Influence of Military Activity to the Southwest Desert Essay (Essay Sample)

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Influence of Military Activity to the Southwest Desert
Desert environment is very fragile and changes quickly depending on human activities. The characteristics such as wind, radiation, and dust support the desert ecosystem. However, due to human activities, this is not necessarily the case. Some human activities carried out in the deserts make the climatic conditions experienced to worsen. Taking the example of military activities that occur in the Southwest desert, we can get an overview of how human actions affect the environment negatively. The Sonoran Desert lies in the Mexico U.S.A. border. It is the Southwestern most of the United States hence referred to as the Southwest desert. The US government uses it for military training. In my point of view, military activities have negative impacts on the environment and we should introduce methods to combat the negative environmental effects. Military practice is essential to ensuring security for a country within and also with the bordering countries. However, it cannot be given weightier priority towards environmental conservation in the areas where bases are set up.
Use of the South West desert for military activities started after WWII when the US joined the war. The military preferred the desert as it was among the last available large open space where they could train without disturbances. The military is attracted to desert environments for various reasons. One of this reason is the large open space for training without disturbance, the other reason is for training involving desert conditions. Today, several arms of the US military have training installations in the desert. these increased interest in the desert by the military is also led by training needs. To have well-trained soldiers, the army needs to train its soldier on shooting their guns in a realistic simulation, to use their mobile weaponry effectively and to use their explosives to test their capabilities. A desert environment provides the army with all that. However, this has been coming at a price with the desert environment being on the losing side. According to Jeffrey S. Fehmi et al. (2001) military activities disturb the environment in various ways (15). The population of mammals shows a change in species composition as the biomass also drastically reduces. Bird population also shows a reduction in biomass especially in secretive and highly sensitive species as soon as the military sets up. Plant populations on their part generally fall as they come into contact with the military and their equipment such as their vehicles. The soil is also a factor which is affected by the military activities (15). Vehicle movements and mobile maneuver training disturb the soil and loosen it. The use of explosives also impacts the soil which is not only where plants grow but home to some desert organisms like scorpions.
The first impact desert environment faced is the encroachment of environment which leads death of lives in the southwest desert. All environment is supposed to be protected for the living organisms. Plants and animals survive under very strict conditions which if changed to lead to the extinction of species. For example, melting of the ice caps is leading to endangerment of polar bears. Unlike human beings who can adapt to any environment, animals and plants need to be protected within their specific habitats if they are to survive. Military activities in the South West desert have been encroaching on the desert environment affecting its natural setting which has led to the endangering of small desert animals like the desert tortoise. This encroachment has taken many forms such as construction, disposal of environmentally toxic materials and use of equipment such as explosives which also impact the environment negatively. It is the same case for a desert environment. With the military machinery installation in the Southwest Desert, there is an encroachment of environment. This encroachment leads to the death of desert life within time. While training, the military use heavy equipment which is known to destroy the environment. For instance, when the army is carrying out its practice with the explosives and firearms, mercury is disposed of off into the atmosphere (Gebka et al. 2016). Once this happens, the effects of mercury on the organisms become very devastating. In the end, the desert life becomes endangered if not extinct (Redmond 67). Other heavy metals like lead are also released into the atmosphere from military activities endangering desert life. Desert life is essential, and thus the climate in such areas should be conserved to support it. The government should work together with concerned authorities to regulate military activities and preserve the environment.
The second impact of military activities on the desert is the death of animals within the environment. The military activities that harm the environment are not necessarily warred activities. They include training of military personnel and production of military equipment and weapons. It also involves erecting the machinery on the land infrastructure on the ground. Harmful environmental activities by the military should, however, be condemned and avoided. The ecological system needs to remain the same to ensure that no organism perishes. It provides that there is balance in the environment. According to Scott (2010), deserts have been used in the past and for a long time as training zones by the military. These activities have led to the endangerment of desert species in the United States. Among these species is the desert tortoise. The desert tortoise is used to represent other desert animals too such as insects and snakes. Pollution from military activities renders the desert environment uninhabitable by the desert tortoise which is currently endangered especially in the Southwest desert. The ecological problems that result from human activities in such areas pose a severe threat to extinction of these animals. It is important to note that these animals cannot survive in other ecological systems and by altering their habitats they can only die. To solve the problem of destruction of the Southwestern desert by adverse military activities carried out in the region, I would recommend that the army troops should find other equipment, e.g., firearms and explosives that are less harmful to the environment. The area is used for training and not for war, so they don’t have to train with these dangerous weapons. They can use other materials that look like the real ones but do not have as many effects as the real ones.
The third negative impact on the desert environment is the adverse effects due to military activities have led to medical issues and complications. As seen earlier on cancer effects was portrayed in Iraq after uranium bombing took place in the 1990s (Edwards 2014). It is as a result of the imbalances in the air and this may cause kidney failures and other rare condition which may lead to a comma to the affected person. (Abella 25). Most of the military activities such as training with explosives, movement of their vehicles and chemicals used to manufacturer their weaponry lead to the emission of gases into the environment which leads to adverse effects on human life and other organisms. It is significant to reduce military activities in the desert because it also protects people from diseases caused by the chemicals emitted. The Southwestern desert has a small population of people living there and in the nearby surroundings. The use of dangerous explosives with dangerous chemicals such as uranium when training may cause the chemicals to spread to the areas where the people are living, and this may lead to illnesses like respiratory disorder for the people.
The fourth negative impact on the southwest desert environment is the pollution issue which takes away clear-air plants and releases the unwanted gases by the weaponry industry which also contributes to global warming. One of crucial destruction in the desert is the clearing of the little available vegetation and setting the military camps. Another significant aspect is the primary activity that is carried out during their training; toxic fumes are released into the environment hence bringing adverse effects to the atmosphere. Global warming has been the rapid effect that has taken place since the ozone layer has been damaged by the unwanted gases emitted by the weaponry industry. Less and less clear-air plants with more and more polluted chemicals released would lead to the increase of temperature. A small change in temperature can lead to massive effects on the earth’s surface. According to NASA, their comparison between these day’s temperature and the last ice age experienced 2.5 to 5 Celsius or 5 to 9 Fahrenheit difference as compared to today’s temperature. The coming years the earth may experience roughly 1.5 degrees or 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit increase especially, to places where the population is quite high, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change conducted these statistics (Saidan and Motasem 59). It is significant to conserve the desert against degradation by military activities because it ensures that the animals and plants that survive there are not destroyed due to the effects of the poisonous chemicals, e.g., mercury emitted by the explosives used.
Aerial assault is an effect on the southern desert caused by the military. Many armies during their training use the war aircraft which are noisier compared to the ones used for traveling by passengers. Such machinery disturbs the desert environment and especially the animals which call the desert home. Research shows that animals are affected more by noise compared to humans and desert animals are no exception. The use of fixed-wing planes by the military during training...