Capital News Service, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and NPR interviewed Dr. Sacoby Wilson about heat and inequality for a four-part investigation showing low-income residents in Baltimore disproportionately experience the health effects of climate change.
Dr. Wilson, an associate professor of applied environmental health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health said people in low-income neighborhoods walk more, ride more buses and drive fewer cars — so they contribute less to climate change. And yet they are more vulnerable to dying in extreme heat.
“Environmental justice and climate change,” Wilson said in the story, “are inextricably linked.”
People who live in the hottest parts of Baltimore are poorer and have higher rates of chronic illnesses like asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) — illnesses that are adversely affected by heat. This phenomenon rings true in cities across the United States.
“As the planet warms, the urban poor in dozens of large U.S. cities will actually experience more heat than the wealthy, simply by virtue of where they live,” the story reported.
The investigation details solutions like cutting greenhouse gas emissions, opening more government buildings as “cooling centers,” and planting more trees. But solutions are expensive and take time. In the meantime, extreme heat means lower-income residents continue to take more trips to the hospital, drugs to treat mental illness and diabetes don’t work as well, and children are born with more medical problems.
Wilson leads the Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH) intiative at the School of Public Health. His work focuses on empowering communities to use science and technology to fight against environmental injustice and health disparities.