Collateral Damage: The Environmental Cost of the Ukraine War

• This article outlines the environmental threats caused by the war in Ukraine including fires, pollution, damage to nuclear facilities, and logging.
• It discusses the sensitive habitats, such as steppe grasslands and beech forests, that face severe damage and degradation, putting rare species at risk.
• It also discusses the concern about radiation levels and nuclear waste containment at multiple nuclear energy facilities that are sites of conflict in the war in Ukraine.

Positives

• This article covers the environmental cost of war, a topic that is often overlooked in news headlines.
• There are links to many relevant and diverse primary sources that discuss the environment in Ukraine, including the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should be emotionally prepared to discuss the consequences of war, and instructors should be prepared to discuss the human toll of war, too.
• Students should be familiar with the terms and concepts of biodiversity, logging, nuclear radiation, and pollution.

Differentiation

• It may be helpful to lead a discussion to gather students' background knowledge of the war in Ukraine and assess their level of comfort in discussing topics of war.
• Before reading the article, have students do a turn-and-talk activity to discuss what they think potential environmental consequences of armed conflicts may be.
• Consider having students independently research and learn more about some of the unique habitats and species present in Ukraine that are discussed in the article.
• It may be helpful to create an interdisciplinary lesson with a social studies class when examining these topics.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.