Hayward assembled a team of military and civilian experts in various disciplines to chronicle and analyze the effects of airpower on the environment.

The book argues that, during both peace and war, air forces have far greater carbon footprints than armies and navies.

Their targets traditionally include objects in or around population centers and the aquifers, waterways, soils, and food sources that sustain human life.

Also, because of historic targeting trends that will continue for some years, air forces cause far worse harm to environmentally significant production, storage, and distribution infrastructure, much of it based on petroleum, oil, lubricants, or chemicals.

[4][5][6] The Gulf Today newspaper called it "innovative" and a "ground-breaking book highlighting the environmental impact of the world’s air forces.”[7]