(The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Al-Fanar Media).
In news reports, war is depicted as a map: arrows moving, targets being struck, statements being made. But beyond this narrow visual frame, another war is unfolding silently—an unseen war, with undeclared outcomes. It is a war waged in the air … on the water … and on the land itself.
In the current military escalation in the Middle East, the confrontation is reduced to missiles being launched and facilities being targeted. Yet the deeper truth lies not in the missile’s trajectory, but in its aftermath.
Every explosion not only destroys a target but also releases into the atmosphere a complex mixture of toxic gases, particulate matter, and heavy metals. These substances do not remain where they land; they enter atmospheric dynamics, traveling vast distances and becoming part of the air we all share. What happens “there” does not stay there.
War is shifting from a geographical event into a transboundary environmental phenomenon.
