Question: What effects does climate change have on those in poverty in the United States?

Abstract 

Climate change is an issue that is only getting worse as more time goes on. The temperature of the Earth keeps on rising as we pollute the world more and more with harmful gases such as CO2 and methane gas. While we think about what is going to happen to us as a whole, we often overlook those that are in poverty. In this paper, I will be explaining how those in the United States and in poverty are majorly affected by the bad byproducts of climate change and global warming. 

Introduction

The health of the world is declining with the polar ice caps melting leading to a rise in sea levels. The issue is one that can only be slowed if we all together help cut down on emissions. The United States according to a business insider is the country that has contributed the most to climate change when compared to other countries. When looking at this issue what is not often thought of are those in the U.S. that are in poverty. Communities in poverty are more vulnerable to be affected by the heat effects of climate change due to them not being able to afford air conditioning, transportation, etc. They are also more vulnerable to the effects of rising sea levels which right now is seen as a minor issue as it does not affect the major urban cities. 

Urban Heat Island Effect 

A side effect of climate change is the increased occurrence of Heat Waves in urban areas like New York City. There is something called the Urban Heat Island Effect that causes heat to become trapped in urban settings resulting from lack of green space, increased pollution, presence of tall buildings, and man-made structures. This will be explored in this paper through the analysis of Bedford- Stuyvesant, a community in New York City. This is a community of very high at-risk population located due to the fact that they are in poverty. This paper will also take a dive into climate injustice. 

Those Affected

New York City

The first community that will be divided into is the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. This community is viewed as a vulnerable community to the effects of the urban heat island effect due the population density there and the low overall income of the community being fairly low. What is looked at when determining this is families with children, people under the age of 5 years old and over the age of 65, the income of the population, and the amount of greenery in the area. When looking at U.S. Census Maps of Bedstuy it becomes clear that the issue is not one of the children, or elderly but one of income with most of the area being in poverty, therefore not being able to afford luxuries such as air conditioners. This is not the only area in New York City that is vulnerable but also East Harlem. 

A community where climate injustice is very clear is East Harlem with there being a low amount of tree cover and green space which is a major factor in the UHI effect. In East Harlem and the South Bronx, there is a large discrepancy in the amount of greenery with it being lower than the rest of NYC, which then causes there to be a 2-4 degree higher temperature than the rest of NYC with the highest difference being a full 31 degrees higher. There has been a study carried out by Timon McPhearson who is the director of the Urban Systems Lab at the New School, which is being reported on by The New York Times in an article titled “Why an East Harlem Street Is 31 Degrees Hotter Than Central Park West.”

In this article, it states that Dr. McPhearson feels that this climate injustice dates back to “decades of racist disinvestment,” which came in the form of the redlining that occurred in the 1930s during the great depression. What this did was ensure that predominantly African-American neighborhoods were marked as being too risky for home loans, which then had the effect of the city putting less money into developing areas such as the South Bronx, East Harlem, and the Lower East Side which now has “fewer trees and shabbier parks.” Now almost a hundred years later in these communities, there are higher temperatures and air pollution levels that bring health issues. 

New Orleans 

In New Orleans, it is a sign of what is to come for many in the future if there are no Jurassic changes that are made. Here is where the first climate refugees are due to the sea level rising. This was first seen with the Isle de Jean Charles where the population of the island had to be relocated. The island was at one point 22,000+ acres but is now down to only 320 acres. This land for nearly 200 years was home to a native tribe. These Native Americans are the perfect display of climate injustice, which in recent events have been heightened due to the oil and gas drilling just offshore of Terrebonne Parish, which has just started back up. 

The situation in the Isle de Jean Charles is one that keeps getting worse due to climate change and the acts of the United States government. This is covered in an article by Frances Madeson titled “As Oil Drilling Looms in the Gulf, ‘Forgotten’ Native Americans Fear for Their Fragile Community,” published by Capital and Main. This article pointed out how 24 of the 25 houses were wiped out by Hurricane Ida, then while they were recovering President Biden allowed for gas and oil leasing to resume. This is a tribe that as written by Madeson only found themselves on the island nearly 200 years ago in the 1830s after the U.S. government forced them to move west of the Mississippi.

The government is now again getting involved with the battle on climate change after Trump’s decision to pull from the Paris Climate Agreement, which was to lower emissions. Despite this, it is easy to interpret the actions of the U.S. as one that is based on what is best for money and public image. In this article, it was revealed that President Biden, confirmed the sale of gas and oil leases that would be going on in the Gulf of Mexico which is where this tribe and other native ones are located. It then said that the next day after this he spoke about his policy commitments to Native Americans where he promised a“new initiative to increase tribal participation in the management and stewardship of federal lands” and “to comprehensively incorporate tribal ecological knowledge into the federal government’s scientific approach, helping us fight climate change.” Despite making these claims his actions are speaking louder than words and are just giving in to climate injustice while ignoring the opinion of those that will be most affected by climate change. 

Climate Injustice

What climate injustice is the fact that there is an uneven contribution to climate change, with the wealthy contributing more than those in poverty. The richest ten percent of the world contributes to about half of the world’s lifestyle consumptions according to the World Economic Forum. With this information, they also provided a figure that breaks down the top 10 percentages of consumption per country. When looking at this it can be seen that the USA is the country that contributes the most to this issue, while being the country to contribute the least to fight against climate change. 

Climate Injustice is also not just the differences between the wealthy and the poor but between urban and rural areas. The urban areas are estimated to “account for about three-quarters of all CO2 emitted from energy-related consumption of fossil fuels,” as stated by the Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project. This can be seen in the article titled “Climate Injustice and Cities”  that New York City produces around 6.5 tons per capita (in 2012) which is half the US national average. In turn, this has a negative effect on the more rural and poorer areas of the country. Finding a solution for these two main climate injustices is not easy but can be started through accountability on those responsible and doing research and enacting counters to the large emissions.

 

Solutions 

Green Roofs

When looking at the urban heat island effect the main solution for this is green roofs. This is something that is being researched by NASA and is reported in a textbook passage labeled “NASA & GREEN ROOF RESEARCH, Utilizing New Technologies to Update an Old Concept” Green roofs are roofs covered with vegetation, which will provide a cleaner environment and help with energy savings. Based on their research, if done on large scale this can lower the overall temperature by 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature of roofs without greenery on average is 34 degrees hotter than those with it, during the day, and at night 14 degrees colder. This will not only help with the urban heat island but also will help with thermal insulation which reduces building energy costs, also helping with limiting emissions. 

Not only does this have a positive effect on our climate and cities but according to NASA’s research, this also has social benefits. On the 5th page of the document, it was stated that this will have positive psychological well-being to the citizens of the city due to the upped opportunities to interact with nature. This can be seen from parks providing those with better “aesthetic” quality of life, so in turn, they are designing these roofs with seating areas. While this will increase overall morale, there still are then larger issues to deal with when it comes to social injustice. This starts by making sure that the people that are now holding back the betterment of climate change are held accountable.  

Accountability

When looking at these issues of climate injustice in terms of wealth, the fixing of this problem goes back to holding those responsible accountable. When it comes to the issue of the tribes off the coast of New Orleans there are issues that date back to 2010 where the  Government Accountability Office, was not able to determine that from 26,600 miles of gas pipelines along the Gulf if the leaks that occurred were from active or decommissioned pipelines. The issue of climate injustice is one that can only be solved if they go back to the root of all issues which includes the redlining of the 1930s that occurred in cities, and in the 1830s where the Native Americans were forced to relocate. 

Currently, with the affected Native American tribes, there are lawsuits going on to force accountability on the allowed contamination of what is left of their tribe’s waters on the Gulf. With this going on the government is still allowing for the continuation of the oil and gas industry’s contamination of their waters, killing their fishing business adding on to the issues that they are dealing with. The quote that the article written by Capital and Main ended with was that “Most of the coastal parishes are involved in lawsuits to hold the oil and gas industry accountable, and it was unheard of under the Obama administration to even consider pausing offshore leasing in the Gulf of Mexico. The Biden administration did pause it, and although they did move forward with this lease sale, the conversation has completely changed.” This quote is the perfect description of the constant acknowledgment and ignoring that is done when it comes to these issues when there is financial gain to be made. 

Conclusion

In the end, those in poverty in the United States are the people that are most affected by the issues of climate change that are amplified by those in power which includes the top 10 percent of wealth and those in politics. With this information, there still are people that do not believe that there is a relation between the quality of life for those in poverty and climate change. This can be seen in a Wall Street Journal article written by Bjorn Lomborg titled, “Climate Change Barley Affects Poverty” in which he provides data that showed the number of calculated deaths due to poverty would only slightly go up due to climate change. The issue with this is that any increase is still deaths that could have been prevented. A mindset like this is what will allow for there to be no change, so now we need to start making meaningful changes that will put a halt to climate change and all of the negatives that it brings along with it. 

 

Works Cited

Administrator, NASA. “NASA and Green Roof Research.” NASA, 5 June 2013, www.nasa.gov/agency/sustainability/greenroofs.html. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.

 

Climate Injustice in the United States| Countercurrents. countercurrents.org/2021/09/climate-injustice-in-the-united-states/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.

 

Kaddo, Jameel. Climate Change: Causes, Effects, and Solutions. Vol. 164, 2016, spark.parkland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1163&context=ah.

 

Leland, John. “Why an East Harlem Street Is 31 Degrees Hotter than Central Park West.” The New York Times, 20 Aug. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/nyregion/climate-inequality-nyc.html.

 

Lomborg, Bjorn. “Opinion | Climate Change Barely Affects Poverty.” Wall Street Journal, 7 Oct. 2021, www.wsj.com/articles/climate-change-malnutrition-regulation-economic-growth-glasgow-conference-11633551187. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.

 

Madeson, Frances. “As Oil Drilling Looms in the Gulf, ‘Forgotten’ Native Americans Fear for          Their Fragile Community.” Capitalandmain.com, 30 Nov. 2021. capitalandmain.com/as-oil-drilling-looms-in-the-gulf-forgotten-native-americans-fear-for-their-fragile-community. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.

 

“Richest 10% Are Causing Climate Change, Study Finds.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/richest-10-percent-causing-climate-change/.

 

“The Urban Heat Island Effect: Bedford-Stuyvesant.” ArcGIS StoryMaps, 10 Aug. 2020, storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6a74e1bfdc764e03a15c4b4b5191c068. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.

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Viewpoints, UGEC. “Climate Injustice and Cities.” UGEC Viewpoints, 28 Apr. 2015, ugecviewpoints.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/climate-injustice-and-cities/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.

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