How Climate Change Disproportionately Impacts Minorities- Part 1
By Sanjoli Gupta
“We’re going to lose everything. And we’re not joking, we’re not lying, we’re not exaggerating” (Freedman). This sentence nearly brought Peter Kalmus, a NASA scientist, to tears as he stood chained to JP Morgan Chase, the largest bank funder of fossil fuel companies, with his fellow scientists. Worldwide protests have swept cities, with scientists making desperate efforts to get someone, anyone, to finally wake up and pay attention to the incoming climate change.
Climate change causes two types of problems, both immediate and secondary. Today's world is plagued with mass consumerism, and Americans are contributing largely to the problem, adding 20 metric tons of carbon dioxide per person, when the global average is 4 tons per person (“Average American Carbon Footprint”).
These expensive lifestyles are costing not only the US, but the rest of the planet as well. Climate change caused by electricity consumption and population growth in developed countries is changing the planet and severely impacting rural areas in developing countries, but the impact can shrink if countries plan for the future through the revitalization of depletion zones and by taking simple but conscious measures such as using low wattage light bulbs.
Coastal areas, which are at the most risk for flooding, will cause millions, if not billions, to be displaced and move inland. “As of 2007, some 634 million people (roughly one in 10) lived in low-elevation coastal areas—areas that are directly impacted by sea-level rise.” (Morris).
Marginalized communities who are displaced because of flooding or other climate change-related problems find themselves pushed out of their homes because of increased housing prices. Such segregation will push minorities and low income families out of their homes. Hate towards minorities will grow because of the lack of resources and competition for them. Moving inland is almost impossible for these marginalized communities because of preexisting megacities, which are cities with populations over 10 million. Exclusionary zoning and closed communities become more common as cities grow bigger (“When sea levels rise”). This reduces housing options for minorities.
Gentrification, where low-income housing is revamped to become middle-class housing, can also make previously affordable housing unaffordable. As megacities grow and eventually bite off more than they can chew, overcrowding creates an increase of tensions between different communities who now live side by side. Those in power will have the money to make cities a place where only the wealthy and Caucasian can live through discriminatory laws and pouring money into expensive developmental endeavors that are unnecessary. This can force low-income minorities out of housing and into slums or other shanty towns on the outskirts of major cities, reducing their prospects for higher-paying jobs and the opportunity to move up the socioeconomic ladder.
Another adverse effect of increased flooding of farming villages is bringing salt into the soil, forcing the population to leave because of difficulty in agriculture. This will be explored in Part 2 of this series!
Work Cited:
“Average American Carbon Footprint: Average American CO2 Emissions: Inspire: Inspire Clean Energy.” Inspire Clean Energy, Inspire Clean Energy, Inspirecleanenergy.com
Freedman, Ethan. “'We've Been Trying Warn You': NASA Climate Scientist Breaks down in Emotional Speech.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 14 Apr. 2022, Independent.co.uk/climate-change
Morris, Lynn. “Disappearing Coastlines.” Emagazine.com, The Environmental Magazine, 1 Sept. 2017, https://emagazine.com/disappearing-coastlines/.
“When Sea Level Rise Accelerates, Inland Migration May Not Be That Easy.” ClimateChangePost, Climatechangepost.com/news
Image from: Yale University
