“…Destroyed buildings constitute the largest element of the estimated carbon cost. Based on reports by the Iranian Red Crescent humanitarian organisation that about 20,000 civilian buildings have been damaged by the conflict, the analysis estimates the total emissions from this sector to be 2.4m tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e).
Fuel is the second biggest element, with US heavy bombers flying from as far away as the west of England to carry out raids over Iran. The analysis estimates between 150m and 270m litres of fuel were consumed by aircraft and support vessels and vehicles in the first 14 days, producing a total emission of 529,000 tCO2e.
One of the most shocking images of the war has been the dark clouds and black rain that fell over Tehran after Israel bombed four major fuel storage depots surrounding the city, setting millions of litres of fuel ablaze. The analysis estimates that between 2.5m and 5.9m barrels of oil have been burned in that attack and similar strikes – including Iranian retaliations on its Gulf neighbours – emitting an estimated 1.88m tCO2e.
In the first 14 days, the US lost four aircraft, while Iran lost 28 aircraft, 21 naval vessels and about 300 missile launchers. This destroyed military hardware is estimated to account for embodied carbon emissions of 172,000 tCO2e…”