JUST as the world was beginning to understand the scale of climate change, the world seems to have turned back to war. Today, the planet is witnessing the highest number of armed conflicts since the end of the Second World War. Researchers estimate that around sixty active armed conflicts are taking place across more than thirty countries, with many additional lower intensity confrontations simmering in the background. From Ukraine to Gaza, from Sudan to Myanmar and now rising tensions involving Iran, the world appears trapped in a cycle of confrontation. In the process, something else is quietly being destroyed alongside cities and lives: the planet itself.

Recent strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure by the United States and Israel produced enormous plumes of thick black smoke rising from burning refineries. Oil fires release huge quantities of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and toxic particulate matter into the atmosphere. These clouds do not remain confined to one country. They travel with prevailing winds and may eventually fall back to earth as acid rain, contaminating land, water systems and........

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