User:Kcl55/Climate change in the United States

Lead: As climate change progresses it exacerbates the effects of Environmental Racism, meaning that the effects of climate change will continue to impact socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals more harshly.

Environmental Racism

The Climate Gap and Environmental Racism refer to the fact that racialized individuals and socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals are impacted more harshly by the negative effects of climate change. There is a growing Climate Gap and prevalence of Environmental Racism in the U.S. Climate change will change the United States' current systems/opportunities for low paying jobs typically held by black/indigenous people of color and low socioeconomic status people, such as agriculture and tourism. Job opportinities in these fields are expected to decrease and become more taxing on workers due to harsher conditions. Based on a study done on Environmental inequities in California, people of color and people of low socioeconomic status populate the cities with the worst air quality in the state, putting these groups at increased risk for being exposed to harmful air pollutants. Additionally, many low SES individuals may not have adequate access to healthcare to rectify their disproportionate exposure, causing longterm health issues. Racialized families spend higher percentages of their income on basic necessities, and will be disproportionately challenged by rising food prices and other basic necessities, further widening the wealth gap between social classes in the US. One of the most prevalent contributors to health inequity in the food system is climate change. (See also: Food Sovereignty). Higher food prices will continue to contribute to low SES individuals experiencing an increase in food insecurity, and diets that contribute to malnutrition and obesity. The food system will also see an increase in the spread of diseases such as cholera and filariasis.

Based on a study done on California's population, low SES neighborhoods and neighborhoods occupied by people of color experience heatwaves more frequently, and they effects there are most harsh due to being situated in the middle of cities, a phenomenon called the Heat Island Effect. Additionally, racialized individuals are less likely to have access to air conditioning and transportation to relief stations, doubling the African American mortality rate caused by heat waves in Los Angeles.

Examples of Environmental Racism in the United States

Flint, Michigan : 2014 was the beginning of the Flint Water Crisis when the city made the decision to change the cities water supply from Detroit system to the Flint River in order to alleviate costs. This is a very well known case of environmental racism in the United States but this is merely one of the most recent examples of the presence of environmental racism. Cases like Uniontown Alabama is one of many unknown cases of environmental racisms in the United States.

Uniontown, Alabama: The Arrowhead landfill can be found right next to the city of Uniontown and served as normal landfill until 2008 when more than a billion gallons of highly toxic coal ash spilled in Kingston, Tennessee. Tennessee Valley Authority transported the ash to Arrowhead. The ash was considered to be toxic in Tennessee but once the hazard ash reached Alabama it wasn't considered toxic according to the Resource Conversation Recovery Act (RCRA) exposing the town of majority low-income African Americans to dangerous toxins. This one of the many examples of unknown cases of environmental racism in the United States.