The Main Forms of the Influence of Military Conflicts on Climate Change: On the Example of Russian-Ukrainian War

The article analyses the influence of military conflicts on climate change. The author argues that the relationship between military conflicts and climate change is bilateral: on the one hand, the cause of military conflicts may be climate changes; on the other hand, military conflicts have a negative inflyence on the environment, causing climate change. Using analysis, the main forms of influence of military conflicts on climatic changes of both local and global scales were revealed. The author's approach to the classification of the main forms of influence of military conflicts on climate change on the planet is proposed. The basis of the approach is the differentiation of the forms of influence of military conflicts on climate change according to such criteria as the scale of the consequences of climate change (local, regional, and global forms of influence); nature of influence (direct and indirect forms of influence); time frames of influence (short-term, medium-term and long-term forms of influence); object of influence (greenhouse emissions and atmospheric pollution; soil pollution; water and groundwater pollution; destruction of forests and agricultural lands; destruction of biological diversity). The author focuses on the fact that climate change was not the cause of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The EU's energy dependence on Russian energy resources contributed to Russian aggression. The main forms of influence of the Russian-Ukrainian war on climate change are analyzed. It is shown that the scale of the Russian-Ukrainian war leads to climate change not only at the local and regional levels, but also causes climatic changes on the scale of the entire planet.