scorched earth

(adjective)

A military strategy or operational method that involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area.

Related Terms

Examples of scorched earth in the following topics:

  • Sherman's March

    • Sherman therefore applied the principles of scorched earth throughout his successful Atlanta campaign from May to September of 1864; he ordered his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, and consume supplies.
    • Sherman's scorched earth policies remain highly controversial, and many Southerners have long reviled Sherman's memory.

  • Philadelphia and Saratoga

    • In June 1777, Burgoyne marched south from Quebec toward Albany with 8,000 troops severely weakened by Patriot efforts to cut off British supply lines via raids and scorched earth tactics.

  • Union Victories in the Western Theater

    • Sherman therefore applied the principles of scorched earth: ordering his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, consume supplies, and destroy civilian infrastructure along their path.

  • Quebec, New York, and New Jersey

    • Cornwallis’ troops were attacked as they attempted to forage for provisions and the Continental Army employed scorched earth tactics to further deny supplies to the British.

  • Conclusion: Reasons for Union Victory

    • Sherman’s scorched earth policies throughout the Atlanta Campaign traumatized the South.

  • The Collapse of Nazi Germany

    • Hitler also ordered the intentional destruction of transport, bridges, industries, and other infrastructure—a scorched earth decree—but Armaments Minister Albert Speer was able to keep this order from being fully carried out.

  • The development of life on Earth

  • Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming

    • Because all objects are continually emitting radiation, the atmosphere (having absorbed the Earth's radiation) then emits radiation, some of which is then reabsorbed by the Earth's surface.  
    • Atmospheric reflecters, notably sulfates and nitrates, reflect and scatter light before it ever hits the surface of the Earth, effectively reducing the power that the Earth receives.
    • These trap heat before it leaves the Earth, insulating the Earth and increasing the Earth's equilibrium temperature.
    • In general, the earth radiates the same energy that it receives.
    • Since the Earth is cooler than the Sun, as the Earth absorbs radiation from the Sun and re-emits radiation from the Earth's surface, there is a net production of entropy.

  • Eratosthenes' Experiment

    • Eratosthanes sought to know the circumference of Earth.
    • Knowing geometry and having observed eclipses of the moon, he believed Earth was a sphere of matter.
    • Eratosthenes reasoned that this occurred because the rays of the sun struck Earth perpendicularly.
    • $C_{earth} = \pi D = \pi \left(2r_{earth}\right) = \pi \left(2\left(3979 \; miles\right)\right) = 25,000 \; miles$
    • Today the measured radius of Earth is taken to be 3963 miles.

  • Satellites

    • The Earth–Moon system is unique in that the ratio of the mass of the Moon to the mass of the Earth is much greater than that of any other natural satellite to planet ratio in the Solar System.
    • The commonly used altitude classifications are Low Earth orbit (LEO), Medium Earth orbit (MEO) and High Earth orbit (HEO).
    • Low Earth orbit is any orbit below 2000 km, and Medium Earth orbit is any orbit higher than that but still below the altitude for geosynchronous orbit at 35,786 km.
    • High Earth orbit is any orbit higher than the altitude for geosynchronous orbit.
    • Low Earth orbit (LEO): Geocentric orbits ranging in altitude from 0–2000 km (0–1240 miles)