EcoWatch: “In addition to the devastating death toll and widespread destruction of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the ongoing conflict has brought extensive climate damage to the planet. New research reveals that the first 24 months of the Ukraine war had a climate cost greater than the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 175 individual countries, adding to the global climate crisis. “Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused extensive devastation, including the destruction or damage of homes, schools, hospitals, and other critical public facilities, leaving citizens without essential resources such as water, electricity, and healthcare. Beside causing damage to the natural environment of Ukraine, this war affects the global climate due to the release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere,” the authors wrote in the study. “In the early months of the war, the majority of the emissions were caused by the large scale destruction of civilian infrastructure requiring a large post-war reconstruction effort. Now, after two years of war, the largest share of emissions originate from a combination of warfare, landscape fires and the damage to energy infrastructure.” The study, Climate Damage Caused by Russia’s War in Ukraine: 24 February 2022 – 23 February 2024 by Initiative on GHG accounting of war (IGGAW) — a coalition of climate experts estimating the impact of the war on Earth’s climate — found that, after two years of war, the planet’s GHG emissions have increased by 175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.”