Disproportionate effects of global warming and pollution on disadvantaged communities

Science Daily: Global warming, pollution, and the environmental consequences of energy production impose a greater burden on low-income, disadvantaged communities, and strategies to prevent these inequities are urgently needed. A provocative collection of articles on climate justice presents the global implications of climate change and its effects on human health and the environment in a special issue of Environmental Justice, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

The entire issue is available online at www.liebertpub.com/env. This important series of articles emerged from a conference on climate justice held earlier this year in New York City, co-hosted by West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT) and the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change. WE ACT, an active participant in the climate debate and the environmental justice movement, compiled the special issue under the leadership of Guest Editor Peggy Shepard.

The articles explore a range of topics, including "The Environmental Injustice of 'Clean Coal'," by Stephanie Tyree and Maron Greenleaf and "Climate Change, Heat Waves, and Environmental Justice," by Jalonne White-Newsome and colleagues. The issue offers both a global perspective in "The International Dimension of Climate Justice and the Need for International Adaptation Funding," by J. Timmons Roberts, and a focus on more local concerns, including "Minding the Climate Gap: Environmental Health and Equity Implications of Climate Change Mitigation Policies in California," by Seth Shonkoff and coauthors, and "Best in Show? Climate and Environmental Justice Policy in California," by Julie Sze et al.

"Facilitating Climate Justice Through Community-Based Adaptation in the Health Sector," by Kristie Ebi and "U.S. Childhood Obesity and Climate Change," by Perry Sheffield and Maida Galvez discuss the implications of global warming on human health and on healthcare utilization….

In Rio de Janeiro, Favela Dona Marta as seen from Corcovado. Shot by Brian Snelson, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License