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Dear
Friends!
The
war has myriad negative aspects that are not
obvious at first glance. For example, when we
discuss the invasion’s environmental consequences,
few consider its impacts on Ukraine’s scientific
community. The war has not only halted work on
many biological and environmental initiatives. It
is also threatening the data collected by
researchers over many, many years.
In
his article, Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group’s
Oleksii Marushchak describes how researchers
collect, catalog, and preserve data collected over
years of research. Current technology makes the
process more efficient than it was, for example,
during World War II. However, without the
necessary speed and support, the probability of
losing significant amounts of information is still
high. This could be a catastrophe for
environmental protection not only in Ukraine, but
also in Europe.
The
war is prompting the mass migration of Ukrainians,
and thus also Ukraine’s scientific communities.
Today, 14.7% of scientists involved in biological
sciences have already left Ukraine and another
38.1% are internally displaced. Between shelling
and drone strikes on the national energy sector,
it is not even possible to work virtually. In
addition, there is a significant shortage of
personnel, especially young staff. Most monitoring
programs are on hold, either because of the
ongoing fighting or because of a simple lack of
resources. UWEC Work Group’s Oleksii Vasyliuk
discusses the struggle of biological and
environmental scientists to survive in this
situation.
Hydropower
plants and the reservoirs that support them have
been used and continue to be used as weapons for
achieving military goals. During WWII, the
destruction of the Dnipro hydropower plant killed
thousands of people. Today, the threat of blasting
the Kakhovka hydropower plant is widely discussed
as a possible scenario, an event which could
result in civilian deaths, but also has the
potential to create additional difficulties for
operation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
Our experts Eugene Simonov and Oleksii Vasyliyuk
analyzed the “lessons of war” related to
hydropower plants.
The
gas leak resulting from damage to the Nord Stream
pipeline was a clear demonstration of how events
related to the war in Ukraine can directly affect
the ecology of other regions. Methane emissions
over just a few days is roughly equivalent to half
of Denmark's annual emissions or the greenhouse
gas emissions of one of Europe's largest coal
plants. We publish a transcript of a conversation
with Sascha Müller-Kroener, director of Deutsche
Umwelthilfe e.V. (Environmental Action Germany and
Eco-action Germany), which first appeared in the
Eurasian Climate Brief podcast series.
You
can find more information about the environmental
consequences of the war in Ukraine on our website and on our social
media (Twitter and Facebook).
Peace
and strength be with you, dear friends!
Aleksei
Ovchinnikov
Editor, UWEC Work
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