From black rain to marine pollution, the war in Iran is an environmental disaster

2026-03-20 - 07:10

In this week’s newsletter: with US-Israeli strikes hitting oil refineries, military bases and nuclear facilities, monitors are warning that the conflict will have devastating effects • Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up here If the first casualty of war is the truth, the environment can’t come far behind. The black rain that fell across Tehran two weekends ago was perhaps the most symbolic symptom of a litany of environmental devastation being wrought on Iran by the US-Israeli war machine since the start of the month. As I reported last week, we already know the conflict will have major long-term environmental repercussions. Revealed: the world’s worst mega-leaks of methane driving global heating ‘Drinking from a fetid pond’: superbug-creating genes found in UK’s largest lake Butterflies crossing oceans, moths navigating by the stars: unravelling the mysteries of insect migrations We need to be honest about Iran – and how our rampant greed for oil is causing mayhem | George Monbiot ‘Very damaging’: how the Iran war is hitting energy-intensive industries Democrats urge windfall tax as big oil set to make billions from Iran war Continue reading...