Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damage. Changes in precipitation patterns and warming water temperatures enable bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxic algae to flourish heavy rains and flooding can pollute drinking water and increase water contamination, potentially causing gastrointestinal illnesses like diarrhea and damaging livers and kidneys. While climate change cannot be definitively linked to any particular extreme weather event, incidents of heat waves, droughts, wildfires, heavy downpours, winter storms, floods and hurricanes have increased and climate change is expected to make them more frequent and intense.Įxtreme weather events can cause injury, illness, and death. In addition, low-income areas in cities have been found to be five to 12 degrees hotter than higher income neighborhoods because they have fewer trees and parks, and more asphalt that retains heat. Moreover, disadvantaged communities often lack access to good medical care and health insurance.Īfrican Americans are three times more likely than whites to live in old, crowded or inferior housing residents of homes with poor insulation and no air conditioning are particularly susceptible to the effects of increased heat. A study of the impact of California heat waves from 1999 to 2011 on infants found that mortality rates were highest for Black infants. Heat stress can exacerbate heart disease and diabetes, and warming temperatures result in more pollen and smog, which can worsen asthma and COPD. Extreme heat can cause heat cramps, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, hyperthermia, and dehydration.Ī heat stroke patient in the ER ( Photo: Janine Rivera)ĭisadvantaged communities have higher rates of health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Higher temperatures lead to more deaths and illness, hospital and emergency room visits, and birth defects. is facing warming temperatures and more intense and frequent heat waves as the climate changes. As time goes on, they will suffer the worst impacts of climate change, unless we recognize that fighting climate change and environmental justice are inextricably linked. In the U.S., these more vulnerable communities are largely the communities of color, immigrants, low-income communities and people for whom English is not their native language. This is because of where they live, their health, income, language barriers, and limited access to resources. How communities of color are affected by climate changeĬlimate change is a threat to everyone’s physical health, mental health, air, water, food and shelter, but some groups-socially and economically disadvantaged ones-face the greatest risks. Many of the reasons these communities of color are falling victim to the pandemic are the same reasons why they are hardest hit by the impacts of climate change. In 23 states, there were 3.5 times more cases among American Indian and Alaskan Native communities than in white communities. Black, Indigenous and LatinX Americans are at least three times more likely to die of COVID than whites. While COVID-19 has killed 200,000 Americans so far, communities of color have borne disproportionately greater impacts of the pandemic. Read more about how climate change is impacting Hurricane Michael or the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season on Climate Signals.Hurricane Katrina 2005 ( Photo: News Muse) The infographics and videos below help visualize these climate change trends. ![]() Finally, there is a significant risk that climate change may be driving increases in storm intensity and the rate at which storms intensify, increases which have been documented in several ocean basins, including the Atlantic. These increases are thought to be linked to warming seas that offer more energy to passing storms. Warmer air temperatures allow storms of all types, including hurricanes, to hold more moisture, which increases the risk of extreme precipitation and flooding. Sea level rise elevates and extends the reach of coastal storm surge flooding, which is the main driver of damage in coastal regions. ![]() Human‐caused climate change is supercharging hurricanes and exacerbating the risk of major damage in three primary ways. ![]() Infographics and videos below are available for download and re-publication.
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