By Demetrius Dillard
Besides white supremacy, gun violence, health disparities, poverty and political corruption – one of the most alarming global issues existing today is climate change.
Many researchers deem climate change to be the leading issue the world is facing today and estimate a seismic temperature rise within the next 80 years. Since the Industrial Revolution, the Earth has warmed approximately 1.1 to 1.3 degrees Celsius, which is the equivalent of about 34 degrees Fahrenheit.
Human activity is the primary cause of the drastic changes in the earth’s climate – from overpopulation, to pollution, to cutting down forests for commercial use. While some of the long-term shifts in the earth’s weather patterns can be attributed to natural causes, most problems heavily derive from human influence.
The advent of electricity, along with the popularization of transportation (road vehicles, ships and planes), manufacturing goods, deforestation, road construction and frequent use of energy in the agricultural industry have led to the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide through the constant burning of fossil fuels.
Greenhouse gases then trap heat in the atmosphere, thus causing what is commonly known as global warming. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane are some of the gases that are primarily responsible for the greenhouse effect.
The rapid surge in greenhouse gas emissions has warmed the planet “at an alarming rate,” carrying costly consequences for weather, food sources, health and bodies of water, experts say. Over the past several decades, sea levels have risen substantially, major storms have intensified and coastal regions have flooded, creating ongoing challenges for humans and wildlife.
Regardless of one’s political or social stance, most would likely agree that climate change is one of the foremost crises facing the planet today. However within that crisis lies another crisis: the more severe effect that climate change has on Black Americans.
An article authored by Tracy Fernandez Rysavy and André Floyd entitled “People of Color Are on the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis” published by nonprofit Green America outlines a few of the disparities adversely affecting “communities of color” – namely Black and Latino individuals – with regard to the climate crisis.
According to the piece, people of color are more likely to: breathe in polluted air, live near coal plants and live near toxic sites, including those housing waste from fossil-fuel infrastructure. Rysavy and Floyd highlighted research indicating that “communities of color breathe in 40 percent more polluted air than White communities across the U.S.”
In addition, an estimated 68 percent of Black Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant despite making up only 13 percent of the nation’s population. Living within that proximity to a place from which harmful pollutants emanate can lead to a range of health issues.
These factors contribute largely to the reason Black people in particular “are in double jeopardy from the climate crisis,” noted Beverly Wright, the CEO of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University in Louisiana.
“First, if you’re a person of color, particularly Black or Latino, you’re more likely to live near toxic facilities, like petrochemical companies here in Louisiana, producing toxins that shorten and impact quality of life,” Wright said in an interview with Green America.
“And then, [our communities] are on the front line of impacts from climate change, living in places where there could be more floods and a higher incidence of different [climate-related] diseases. For poor communities, there’s also not having access to health insurance or medical services. Communities of color are disproportionately affected by all of these things.”
Wright, along with many other Black scholars, community leaders and social activists have led the charge in the emerging environmental justice movement which advocates for fair treatment and equitable distribution of environmental benefits that intersect race, class and geography.
Though humans are the primary cause of climate change, they fortunately are the ones who can combat the crisis. Experts advise people to take a number of actions to combat climate change, including switching to energy-efficient appliances at home, eating more vegetables and being less wasteful with food, walking, biking or taking public transportation to work, recycling and switching to solar as a renewable source of energy for the home.
Political leaders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Kathy Castor, have introduced and enacted policies and legislation that directly address the crisis such as the Climate Action Now Act and Climate Energy Act of 2021. “It’s beyond time to do something about it,” the article says. “That’s why it’s so important to expand the conversation around climate justice — ensuring that all people, regardless of race and ethnicity, get equal protection from the worst effects of climate change.”
