User talk:Littlee0804/Cold War

The environmental impacts of the Cold War

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I divided my discussion of the Cold War's negative environmental effects into two sections in this Wikipedia entry: the arms race and the use of proxy wars. The environmental consequences of the Cold War in particular may have been normalized because it lasted for nearly 50 years. Finding studies that cover the Cold War's overall effects on the environment is therefore necessary. Unfortunately, "Environmental Histories of the Cold War" is the only paper I could find that supports the idea that the Cold War as a whole had a significant environmental impact. I used this article to set up a general structure and find literature that examines the environmental impact of each section of the structure. My article focuses on the environmental impacts of the Cold War's arms race in terms of overexploitation, military testing (mainly nuclear testing), and the Cold War's proxy wars (Vietnam and Korea). I had originally envisioned adding one more section on the environmental consequences of China's accelerated military-industrial build-up in the late Cold War, but in the course of my literature research, I found the authors discuss whether China's environmental damage was a direct consequence of the Cold War. In response to the author's query about whether this would have happened absent the Cold War, I have come to the personal conclusion that China would still have had the potential to build a sizable military sector without considering environmental impacts even in the absence of the Cold War. Therefore, instead of listing a separate part in my final version, I merely refer to one statement.

I think I discussed too little about the section on the environmental effects of the Cold War on other countries. As a 50-year-long confrontation between major powers, the effects of the Cold War must have been far-reaching. However, I have not found enough literature on the environmental effects of the Cold War on other countries, except for the regions where the hot war took place. Littlee0804 (talk) 01:36, 2 August 2022 (UTC)