Gender
Women emit __% less carbon than men.
26% (According to a 2025 study)
What is one example of how the climate crisis affects people of color disproportionately?
Regardless of income, people of color across the US are exposed to significantly higher levels of air pollutants than their Caucasian counterparts. Hispanic and Black Americans breathe in 56%-63% more pollution than they make, whereas Caucasians breathe in 17% less pollution than they make.
Define Multi-Dimensional Poverty
The UN defines multi-dimensional poverty through the consideration of several factors, such as health, education, and standard of living.
Define non-violent resistance; Give an example in the context of the climate crisis.
Non-violent resistance is a strategy to create change without the use of physical violence, typically via means of collective action or symbolism. Effective resistance targets the institutions responsible for the issue. One example is Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future movement, one of the largest climate demonstrations in history.
The concept that various aspects of a person's identity can combine to affect them in a new, unique, way.
Describe the disproportionate economic impact that women face due to the climate crisis.
Generally, women are already economically disadvantaged compared to men, evidenced by the persisting gender wage gap. Thus, it is harder for women to recover from asset losses due to natural disasters.
What is one way Indigenous Americans are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis?
Not only have Indigenous Americans been displaced from their original tribal lands due to climate disasters, but the lands they've been relocated to are significantly more vulnerable to extreme heat and decreased precipitation. In addition, these new lands also have less economic value, being less likely to contain resources like oil and gas.
What are some climate hazards that people in multi-dimensional poverty are especially vulnerable to?
Extreme heat, air pollution, floods, and droughts
You live in a community full of concrete and asphalt. What can you do to mitigate the climate crisis?
Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of Freetown in Sierra Leone, has planted over 250,000 trees in her city. These trees lower the overall temperature, improve air quality, and prevent flooding, effectively slowing the effects of the climate crisis.
Define Climate Justice
The concept that those who contribute the least to the climate crisis are the most affected by it.
How do air pollutants disproportionately affect women?
Some pollutants are endocrine disruptors, which affect the reproductive health of women. Additionally mercury, which is often emitted from coal-burning facilities, is known to cause birth defects.
What is one way Black Americans are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis?
For 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, and compared to all other demographic groups, Black Americans are 34% more likely to live in areas with the highest projected childhood asthma diagnoses and 40% more likely to live in areas with the highest projected increases in extreme temperature related deaths.
How much do you think the richest and poorest halves of the world each contribute to climate change, percentage-wise?
"The richest half of the world are responsible for 86% of greenhouse gas emissions and the poorest half for just 14%" - Stephanie Hegarty, BBC News, 2021
You live in a food desert, where fast food is cheaper than fresh produce. Thanks to unfavorable for-profit agricultural conditions in your area due to climate change, it takes you 45 minutes round trip to procure an apple. How can you solve this issue?
This was the reality of Ron Finley, a South Central resident in Los Angeles. Finley decided to use the city-owned space in front of his yard to start a community garden, getting nicknamed the "guerrilla gardener". When the city tried to shut the garden down, Finley used the media to garner public outrage, easily overturning the warrant. Others soon followed his example of gardening, showing how Finley left a long-lasting, sustainable legacy for future generations to come.
What is one way age and class intersect in the climate crisis?
More than half the people in multi-dimensional poverty are children under 18. Children in high-income countries will see twice as many extreme weather events as their grandparents, This is magnified for children in low-income countries, who will see three times as many.
How do climate hazards disproportionately affect pregnant women?
Hazardous conditions like heavy air pollution and extreme heat can prevent access to healthcare for pregnant women, who are especially vulnerable. For example, drifting wildfire smoke from Canada into New York caused many women to postpone their prenatal care appointments.
What is one way Hispanic Americans are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis?
For 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, and compared to all other demographic groups, Hispanic Americans are 43% more likely to have their labor hours reduced due to extreme temperature and 50% more likely to experience traffic delays from coastal flooding.
How many people in multi-dimensional poverty face climate hazards?
Of the 1.1 billion people in multi-dimensional poverty, nearly 8 in 10 are directly exposed to climate hazards. (About 887 million people)
You have what the rest of the world sees as a disability. How can you use your positionality to speak up against the climate crisis?
Greta Thunberg, a prominent young climate activist, views her Asperger's Syndrome as a superpower, stating that the world needs more people who think outside the box.
Aimee Mullins is a double amputee below the knee. While not strictly a climate activist, she takes advantage of the potential for her prosthetics to become art to express herself, utilizing them as a symbol to provoke others into deeper thought and rewire their thoughts on what exactly a "disability" is.
What is one way ethnicity and class intersect in the climate crisis?
Redlining is the act of denying loans to people based on where they live, which has historically excluded people of color from home ownership. These redlined, low-income communities of color are faced with severe climate effects due to power plants and incinerators being intentionally placed near them, as well as a lack of greenery. This leads to extreme heat from the heat island effect, higher rates of asthma due to air pollution, and much more.
Extreme weather events cause economic instability, mental stress, food insecurity, and more. How might this have negative repercussions for women, specifically?
There is an uptick in gender-based violence during and after extreme weather events. This includes trafficking, sexual violence, domestic violence, and child marriages.
What is one way Asian Americans are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis?
Researchers from the University of Illinois find that, in Chicago, "Chinese origin households have a higher density [of gardening] than anywhere else in the city." Resident Kelly Chen finds that there are elevated levels of lead in her family's backyard garden, due to their proximity to industrial activity. They test six other households in areas across the city, all of Asian descent, and all but one come back with similarly alarming results.
Why do lower-income communities often form heat islands?
Lower-income communities often lack green spaces and vegetation, which leads to temperatures being 3 to 10 degrees Celsius warmer.
You are a student. How can you fight the climate crisis?
The time to act is now. Instead of individual action, try advocating for large, systemic changes in your school or your community. Remember that there is strength in numbers, and there is a clear difference between 10 and 10,000 protesters, signatures, boycotters, etc.
What is one way ethnicity and gender intersect in the climate crisis?
Due to fossil fuel production, a large male workforce is present in rural North and South Dakota, known as "man camps", near many Indigenous communities. In these areas, Indigenous women are especially vulnerable to becoming victims human trafficking and other violent crimes.