1. DEVELOPING A COMMON LANGUAGE:
Climate Justice and Environmental Justice:
According to Wikipedia, climate justice is a concept that addresses the ethical dimensions of climate change. Applied ethics, research and activism use the term to explore anthropogenic climate change as an ethical, legal and political issue rather than one that is purely environmental or physical in nature.
The US Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. The EPA states that this goal can only be reached when all persons benefit from the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and have equal access to the decision-making process for a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.
The People's Fight: How We Halt the Climate Crisis
- Creation Justice expands the concept of “justice for all” to include all of creation, the Earth, all plants and animals, humans, water, air and soil.
- Sea-level rise as it relates to climate change is caused by two major factors. First, more water is released into the ocean as glaciers and land ice melts. Second, the ocean expands as ocean temperatures increase. Both of these consequences of climate change are accelerating sea-level rise around the world, putting millions of people who live in coastal communities at risk. (the Climate Reality Project)
- Systems of exploitation seek to maximize profits by underpaying laborers and/or providing unsafe work environments or by extracting and using resources which belong to others.
- Intersectional environmentalism: Leah Thomas coined this term to identify the interconnected nature of people and the planet. The term highlights the importance of achieving climate justice, of amplifying historically excluded voices, and of approaching environmental education, policy and activism with equity, inclusion and restorative justice in mind.
- Intersectionality suggests that certain aspects of who you are will increase your access to the good things in life or your exposure to the bad things in life. The term was coined in 1989 by Kimberle Crenshaw and recognizes that multiple social issues are connected and cannot be addressed effectively in isolation. This has led the United Methodist Church and others to include racism, sexism, poverty and other social inequities as it considers climate justice.
- Global Climate Risk Index identifies the vulnerability of specific locations to future extreme weather events. Countries or localities can use the index when planning for more frequent or more severe weather events.
- Desertification refers to land degradation resulting from climatic variations and human activities. It is not a natural process, but is caused by human activity. Today, a third of land is threatened by desertification (Good Planet). Note that desertification is not the loss of land to desert or through sand dune movement.
- Desertification refers to the process by which natural or human causes reduce the biological productivity of drylands (arid and semiarid lands). Declines in productivity may be the result of climate change, deforestation, overgrazing, poverty, political instability, unsustainable irrigation practices, or combinations of these factors. The concept does not refer to the physical expansion of existing deserts but rather to the various processes that threaten all dryland ecosystems, including deserts as well as grasslands and scrublands. https://www.britannica.com/science/desertification
- Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. (Oxford Languages)
- Cryosphere includes all parts of Earth covered by water in its frozen form (snow and ice, glaciers and permafrost soils.) ( From This Is Climate Change by David Nelles and Christian Serrer)
2. IMPACTS ON THE EARTH **
AIR
Greenhouse gases (CO2, methane and nitrous oxide especially) have increased as a result of our use of fossil fuels to create energy, synthetic fertilizers, synthetic clothing and other plastics, and through the burning of forests. The increase in greenhouse gases has warmed and polluted the Earth’s atmosphere and thus the air we breathe. Here is a short video on impacts in Louisiana. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r147k1lq3U
WATER
Both the oceans and fresh water have been affected. The oceans have absorbed much of the excess CO2 which has caused them to warm and expand in volume and become more acidic. The additional atmospheric warmth has caused melting of the glaciers and ice caps and sheets. The additional water from the ice sheets plus the expansion of the warmer water has caused sea levels to rise.
Creeks and rivers and lakes and ponds have become polluted from using them as receptacles for our waste products from many industries and from the run off of agricultural wastes and fertilizers.
The chances of flooding are increased as warmer air holds more water and releases it in storm systems.
LAND
The rise in sea level has caused flooding and eroding of coastal areas. Farming practices have caused desertification of land. Forests have been burned for agricultural and industrial uses. Warmer temperatures have caused the permafrost (soil that is typically below freezing) to begin to melt and release stored carbon as methane. Warmer air temperatures increase evaporation of moisture from the soil increasing the likelihood of droughts. Warmer temperatures increase the conditions for wildfires.