When I think about the popular discourse surrounding anthropological climate change, my mind always comes back to this tweet from the sitting president:
It snowed over 4 inches this past weekend in New York City. It is still October. So much for Global Warming.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2011
It frames climate change in a way that makes it seem as though he — if he did believe it to exist — would be the one negatively affected by its results. This, however, is not the case whatsoever. In actuality, it is primarily persons of color residing in the global south as well as the upper northern regions that bear the burden of changing weather patterns as a result of unchecked industrialization.
In 2014, a Marshall Islands poet named Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner was selected to speak at the United Nations Climate Summit about the conditions in her home country. Her speech, although only 6 minutes long, was an incredibly powerful insight into what her country people are being tasked with going forward. She touches on topics ranging from rising sea levels and tropical storms, to the droughts and loss of plant life.
Unfortunately, her islands are not alone in the struggle against climate change. In Central Africa, land is becoming uninhabitable due to the abnormally excessive heat. In Northern Canada around the arctic circle, rising temperatures has led to collapse of land and structures, harming communities who rely on earthly material for their sustenance.
As a result of this phenomena, 26 million people worldwide have been identified as displaced by climate change: so called “climate refugees”. By 2050, that number could balloon up to a staggering 150 million. What most of these people have in common is that they are not inextricably linked to the stability of the global economy. If a massive storm hits a small island in the Caribbean, destroying everything and killing many, the world wouldn’t bat an eye. When it hits New Jersey, massive relief efforts are undergone. This is not to say that Hurricane Sandy was not a tragedy; it is to say that it is clear who gets preferential treatment in these instances. This is especially gross when considered with the fact that the United States has historically been the leader in outputs of harmful gasses, which is essentially the source of anthropological climate change.
In the case of Puerto Rico, it is interesting to see the rhetoric of people requesting aid for the island country. The push for help has revolved around this notion that Puerto Ricans are Americans and thus are more deserving of aid than island countries such as Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica (which was literally blown away by Hurricane Maria). These islands have living, breathing people there too. Being American should not be a qualification for survival, especially when the thing threatening them is largely caused by America. Resources should be distributed to all islands affected by these hurricanes, not just the one they have laid claim to.
Likewise, in America, the increased severity of storms and hurricanes hurts the most vulnerable of populations. This is due to the fact that when big storms hit major cities, the crumbling infrastructure and lack of preparation in lower socioeconomic areas causes massive losses that aren’t seen in wealthier parts of the city that were simultaneously affected. Additionally, before the storm even happens, low income people who don’t own cars aren’t able to evacuate, making them even more susceptible to harm.
When thinking about this, storms like Hurricane Katrina and the recent Hurricane Harvey come to mind. Katrina is famous for both the severity of the storm but also the awful recovery effort and the total lack of defense mechanisms that were in place to levy the damage in the poorest wards of the city. Fast forward 13 years later to Houston, where essentially the same thing occurred. With larger and more dangerous weather patterns predicted going forward, we will unfortunately lay witness to more damage in these vulnerable areas.
Climate change is a real phenomenon that will threaten all of us if nothing is done to curb its outputs. However, when we think about who is at the most risk, our focus has to shift towards people whose country or home is stationed in an area where rising sea levels, rising temperatures and severe weather are most likely to cause harm. To do that, pressure has to continue to be put on government officials to regulate the industrial outputs that are negatively affecting the world. In doing so, it is imperative that indigenous people of color are centered in the conversations that shape their future.
Photo: AP Photo / Johnny Jno-Baptiste.
