In 1991, the Iraqi Armed Forces retreated from the conquered nation of Kuwait and practiced a scorched earth policy by setting fire to Kuwaiti oil wells. The resulting fires burned out of control because of the dangers of sending in firefighting crews. The area surrounding the oil wells had been mined, and a military cleaning of the areas was necessary before the fires could be put out. Eventually, privately contracted crews extinguished the fires. By that time, however, the fires had burned for months, causing widespread pollution. The byproducts of the petroleum burn caused pollution to the soil and air, and the oil fires have been linked in the popular imagination with what was later called Gulf War Syndrome. Whether this syndrome has been caused by the oil fires, by chemical attack, by ambient radiation, or other causes has not been determined, and the longterm environmental effects of the fires have yet to be fully understood.

During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Dr. S. Fred Singer debated Carl Sagan on the impact of the Kuwaiti oil fires on American Broadcasting Company News "Nightline." It is rumoured that Sagan said the smoke would loft into the upper atmosphere, disrupt the monsoons and lead to ecological disaster. Singer said such a view was ridiculous, that the smoke would go up only a few thousand feet and then be washed out of the atmosphere by rain. Three days later, black rain began falling over Iran, which essentially put an end to the speculation.

External links

http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/593.html