POOR CLIMATE: The impacts of climate change will hit the poor hardest, according to a new study.
Image: © ISTOCKPHOTO.COM / EVGUENI GROISMAN
Climate change is disproportionately affecting the poor and minorities in the United States - a "climate gap" that will grow in coming decades unless policymakers intervene, according to a University of California study.
Everyone, the researchers say, is already starting to feel the effects of a warming planet, via heat waves, increased air pollution, drought, or more intense storms. But the impacts - on health, economics, and overall quality of life - are far more acute on society's disadvantaged, the researchers found.
"Climate change does not affect everyone equally in the United States," said Rachel Morello-Frosch, associate professor at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley and lead author of The Climate Gap. "People of color and the poor will be hurt the most - unless elected officials and other policymakers intervene."
Watching this unfold is akin to watching a movie where disparate and seemingly unrelated storylines converge to denouement that is "decidedly tragic," the researchers wrote.
For instance, the report finds that African Americans living in Los Angeles are almost twice as likely to die as other Los Angelenos during a heat wave. Segregated in the inner city, they're more susceptible to the "heat island" effect, where temperatures are magnified by concrete and asphalt. Yet they're less likely to have access to air conditioning or cars.
Similarly, Latinos make up 77 percent of California's agricultural workforce and will likely see economic hardship as climate change reworks the state's highest-value farm products. The dairy industry brings in $3.8 billion of California's $30 billion agriculture income; grapes account for $3.2 billion. Yet climatic troubles are expected to decrease dairy production between 7 percent and 22 percent by century's end, while grapes will have trouble ripening, substantially reducing their value.
Other impacts, according to the researchers: Households in the lowest income bracket spend twice the proportion of their income on electricity than those in the highest income bracket. Any policy that increases the cost of energy will hurt the poor the most.
California industries considered heavy emitters of greenhouse gases have a workforce that is 60 percent minority. Any climate plan that fails to transition those workers to new "green energy" jobs threatens to widen the racial economic divide.
Minorities and the poor already breathe dirtier air than other Americans and are more likely to lack health insurance. As higher temperatures hasten the chemical interactions that produce smog, they're going to feel the most impact.
The findings, the researchers say, underscore the need for policymakers to consider environmental justice when addressing climate. Ignoring the climate gap, they warn, could reinforce and amplify current and future socioeconomic and racial disparities.
"As America takes steps to prevent climate change, closing the climate gap must also be a top priority," said Manuel Pastor, a co-author and director of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at the University of Southern California's Center for Sustainable Cities. "If we protect those who are most vulnerable, we will protect all of us."
See what we're tweeting about
17 Comments
Add CommentWhat can an urban dweller like myself do to combat climate change? Sitting back and watching is frightening... Seeing that I work closely with some of the poorest people in the city of Chicago.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe actual study is basing its assertions on daily temperature levels from 1999-2003 and using the mean difference temperature of 10 degrees Fahrenheit and add one specific heat wave in 2006... all from 9 CA counties.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThen they go on to extrapolate the obvious, the poor are less likely to be able to afford AC blowing all the time and less likely to have health insurance, therefore more likely to see dire effects from the heatwaves.
None of this has anything to do with climate change specifically or in general. This is an issue that has existed for decades. In 2003 for example hundreds of thousands died in heatwaves all across Europe, but the cause for the heat was not global warming, but a specific and definable weather pattern known as an anti-cyclone.
I honestly expect better from a science magazine.
Agree. Worthless article. Shame on you sciam.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAgreed. This is naked politics, not science. Reminds me why I stopped subscribing to the magazine in the first place.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article also makes the point, albeit unintentionally, that the poor will be those most unable to shoulder the massive tax hikes that carbon taxes will impose.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article is ridiculous. Complete junk.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article is junk.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article is ridiculous.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI feel kind of guilty. For i gonna buy a car..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is what happens when you let political ideology drive scientific research. With mega $$$ grants rewarding those who will shill for a leftist jihad against capitalism, you end up with phoney "consensus" and policies that hurt the very ones the jihadists say they want to help.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCap and trade would be the final nail in the coffin for the American economy. As usual, reduced economic vitality will have the most severe impact on those who can afford it least. Respectfully, Albert
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhere are all the usual suspects on these boards telling us through paying massive carbon taxes, or cap and trade that the poor will benefit, we'll all live longer healthier, more meaningful lives, the environment will be saved and that we'll all live happily ever after?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI guess they've seen the absurdity of their ways and quietly moved on.
Let's hope that the government does the same.
The article reminds me of the classic gag headline for the NYT: World ends; women and minorities hit hardest.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agreed, this article lacks a lot of actual science that one might expect from SciAm, but since climate change is the major scientific, political and economic concern of the present day it is important to bring to light how currently unaddressed inadequacies in our socio-economic structure continue to be a problem and still require solutions in the changing environment.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd this article only addresses the underprivileged within the US, the problems will be exponentially more pronounced in less developed countries that don't have our natural and economic resources, where changes in climate are going to be more pronounced in the first place.
G4m3th30ry : The heat wave that struck europe in 2003 killed thousands of people because they did not drink enough water. They died of dehydration because the authorities had not forseen such high temperature and had no Civil Defence plan to deal with it. (The Health Minister was on vacation!!). Such lethal temperatures had not been predicted at the time, but are considered to be imminent again because of Climate Change.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat a worthless article, politics masquerading as science!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGlobal warming is a massively disproven thing to start with, and this article isn't even accurate--it's poorly-thought out policies which will raise electricity prices that will hurt the poor, not "global warming".
Complete trash.
When temperatures rise, farm workers will need to drink more to avoid dehydration. But as big farms will soon all be equipped with self-steering GPS machinery, all the farm hands will be out of work anyway. Yet again we are faced with the dilemma that automation will create more poverty, which will have a bigger effect on people than climate change. Robotised machines can adapt more easily to new weather conditions!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this