Planet Earth: the latest weapon of war

Planet Earth: The Latest Weapon of War

by Rosalie Bertell (The Women's Press, ISBN 0 7043 4650 8)

In the early 1980s Rosalie Bertell, a Canadian scientist, nun and peace activist, published No Immediate Danger, a pioneering study of the effects of low-level radiation. Her new book, Planet Earth: The Latest Weapon of War continues the examination of environmental effects on human health, with a particular focus on the long-term consequences of modern `sophisticated' weaponry.

Dr Bertell sets her discussion of the environmental implications of warfare within an historical context and challenges the assertion that so-called `natural' disasters such as floods and typhoons are distinct from and uninfluenced by human behaviour. Taking as her test cases the Gulf War and the Kosovo conflict, she looks beyond the obvious aftermath of war and analyses the harm done to the environment, both locally and globally, by our inventive genius for destruction.

Carefully sifting facts from military obfuscation, the author makes a persuasive case that Depleted Uranium weapons are a possible cause of Gulf War Syndrome.

She examines the hidden cumulative effects of research programmes such as the Strategic Defence Initiative and shows how powerful electromagnetic military hardware has destabilized the ecosystem and caused environmental devastation which in turn creates massive economic and social disruption across the globe.

Planet Earth is a heartfelt plea for a fundamental shift in the way we treat our world. Closely argued and packed with facts and figures, it is not an easy read but it is a timely and authoritative addition to the crucial debate about the fundamental priorities of the human race in the 21st century.