The interconnectedness of climate change and systemic racism begins early, with the pregnancy of a mother and the birth of a child. A review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on June 18 found evidence that negative health effects caused by climate change start before birth.
Updates for July 20
Frozen ground in the Arctic is thawing, harming Indigenous people’s hunting livelihoods as well as destabilizing buildings and roads.
The third EU country to do so, Portugal announced closure of national coal plants, driven to this decision in response to rising carbon costs and competition from clean energy companies.
As a result of COVID-19, once manicured green spaces in cities across the world have been left to be rewilded with native flowers and grasses which have been attracting more diverse ecosystems of insects, birds and wildlife.
Zanzibar in East Africa, a global hotspot for seaweed production, is initiating a new program for sustainable seaweed production.
Joe Biden revealed a $2 trillion climate plan.
As methane emissions have reached a global high, Burger King will be treating cows to a new feed that includes lemongrass as part of an experiment on reducing the amount of methane cows burp into the atmosphere.
Trump overturns key environmental laws which will speed up approval for projects like pipelines and highways, which could negatively impact low-income and minority communities.
Read up on the links between racism and the environment with this resource list from The New York Times.
Read up on the disproportionate effects of the climate crisis on Indigenous peoples and people of color with this article from Vice: The Environmental Movement Needs to Reckon with Its Racist History
Read up on the factors that make communities of color more susceptible to climate disasters with this article from Grist: Why Racial Justice is Climate Justice
Read up on the intersectionality between defunding the police and the environmental movement with this article from Vice: Why ‘Defunding the Police’ Is Also an Environmental Issue
Read up on the challenges racism adds to climate activism and work with this article from The Washington Post: Racism Derails Our Efforts to Save the Planet
Security in the United States is currently a topic of discussion, centering around possibilities of reevaluating public safety, as brought up by racial justice protests and global security, as tested by the COVID-19 crisis. Alongside these systems is another operative institution meant to ensure protection to Americans, which comes at a steeper cost to the preservation and safety of our world than many realize.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected our environment, producing positive outcomes as well as changes that present further challenges to the preservation of our natural world. Limited travel and the slowing of economic activity have led to a reduction of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale.
Protests currently embroiling cities across the U.S. were ignited in resistance to current structures and systems of oppression that have been locked into social, political and economic landscapes for centuries. Instances of racial injustice aren't the result of a few bad apples, but rather a product of a system designed to produce discrimination.
Photo by Trinity Kendrick ‘21
by Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23
Marine species are rapidly heading towards extinction due to overfishing and climate change. The UK World Wildlife Fund (WWF-UK) reported in 2015 that marine species declined by 49% between 1970 and 2012. Marine life and ecosystems play an essential role in the lives of both people and animals. Not only are over 800 million people reliant on the fishing industry as their livelihood, but marine life constitutes the foundation of countless animal food chains. Marine life is also a cornerstone of many cultures around the world, at the current rate of decline, traditions such as the Italian-American tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes will soon be symbols of an abundant past.
While current trends predict a rapid decline in ocean life, a recent review published in the scientific journal Nature claims that with the right policies, marine life can be fully restored in as little as thirty years. The review points to the recovery of humpback whales and other endangered species as a source of hope for the rest of marine life. It identified several policy changes that will help achieve this restoration, such as making 20-30% of the ocean into marine protected zones, enacting more restrictive fishing guidelines and reducing ocean pollution.
Protecting the ocean comes with a price tag. It is estimated that restoring marine life would cost at least $20 billion per year. However, the payoff of implementing stronger marine policy will far outweigh the costs. An increase in environmental protection will revive the declining fishing industry and create new jobs. A less obvious financial incentive for the restoration of wetlands and coastal ecosystems is their ability to buffer severe storms and decrease resulting damage done to coastal towns, protection that almost 200 million people rely on.
Protecting the ocean has a myriad of benefits to people and the environment alike, but it cannot succeed alone. Climate change caused by events on land contributes to the decline in ocean health by causing ocean acidification and warming, which are detrimental to marine life. Ocean acidification lowers the levels of calcium carbonates in the sea, which organisms like clams need to build strong shells and skeletons. Ocean warming pushes species who can no longer tolerate the water temperature towards deeper waters, emptying out coastal ecosystems and disturbing food chains throughout the ocean. International collaboration to decrease global greenhouse gas emissions is necessary. For the policy changes suggested by the scientific review to succeed, international collaboration to decrease global greenhouse gas emissions is necessary.
The ocean still has a chance to rebound from decline, but the window of opportunity is closing fast. The report states that if we do not act soon it will be too late to reverse the damage done to oceans. Restoring marine life will require what the authors of the review refer to as a “Grand Challenge for humanity,” an international collaboration that is unprecedented in environmental policy.
