|
May 2024 Newsletter
Issue #87
|
|
|
Since 1850, the world has steadily put more and more carbon pollution into the air every year. Decade after decade, that trend line has only gone up. In 2023, roughly 50 gigatons of carbon dioxide — or about 110 trillion pounds — streamed into the atmosphere from human-related activities.
Health Impact
Years of scientific research have clearly established that particle pollution and ozone are a threat to human health at every stage of life, increasing the risk of premature birth, causing or worsening lung and heart disease, and shortening lives. Some groups of people are more at risk of illness and death than others, because they are more likely to be exposed, or are more vulnerable to health harm, or often both.
Air pollution can harm children and adults in many ways including wheezing and coughing, shortness of breath, asthma attacks, worsening COPD, lung cancer, premature death, susceptibility to infections, heart attacks and strokes, impaired cognitive functioning, metabolic disorders, preterm births and low birth weight.
Every year, air pollution kills an estimated 7 million people worldwide.
Globally, the 10 cities with the worst air pollution:
1. Chengdu, China
2. Dhaka, Bangladesh
3. Mumbai, India
4. Chiang Mai, Thailand
5. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
6. Hanoi, Vietnam
7. Kathmandu, Nepal
8. Yangon, Myanmar
9. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
10. Kolkata, India
In the U.S., nearly 40% of the population (131 million people) live places with unhealthy levels of polluted air.
The top 10 cities in the U.S. with the worst air pollution:
1.Bakersfield, California
2.Visalia, California
3.Fresno-Madera-Hanford, California
4.Eugene-Springfield, Oregon
5.San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California
6.Los Angeles-Long Beach, California
7.Sacramento-Roseville, California
8.Medford-Grants Pass, Oregon
9.Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona
10.Fairbanks, Alaska
The top cause of air pollution is burning fossil fuels.
Approximately 68 million tons of air pollution are emitted into the atmosphere in the U.S. every year. Other causes include ozone and smog, weather conditions, heatwaves and wildfires.
Particles in air pollution can be smaller than 1/30th the diameter of a human hair. When we inhale them, they are small enough to get past the body's
natural defenses.
Effects on the Poor
Poor people are disproportionately affected by air pollution. 80% of people who are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution live in low- and middle-income countries. 716 million of the world’s lowest income people (those living on less than $1.90 per day) live in areas with unsafe levels of air pollution, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The poor tend to be priced out of the leafy suburbs where there are fewer highways and air quality is better. The poor also tend to live where laws are weak or not applied, vehicle emission standards are less stringent and coal power stations more prevalent. In big cities, it’s the poorest who live in cramped informal settlements, often near rubbish dumps, who feel the full force of air pollution. Indoor air pollution is also a problem where low indoor air quality is a result of burning wood, charcoal, kerosene or other materials inside poorly ventilated homes for cooking, heating or lighting. It’s the most vulnerable, mainly in the developing world, who cannot afford cleaner fuels or alternative technologies and suffer the most.
Financial Costs
Air pollution costs each American $2,500 a year in healthcare.
The national price tag for air pollution is more than $820 billion a year, with air pollution contributing to an estimated 107,000 premature deaths annually.
Heat waves, which can trigger strokes and exacerbate cardiovascular problems, cost the country $263 million a year, with wildfire smoke costing Americans $16 billion annually.
Action Ideas
- Replace gas-powered gardening equipment, like leaf blowers and lawn mowers, with electric versions
- Reduce vehicle idling
- Advocate for electric vehicles
- Ask for traffic calming changes on local streets, such as roundabouts and slower speed limits.
- Drive less, and ask for better public transit options, a network of safe bike lanes, and shaded sidewalks
- Plant plants, and advocate for more trees and greenery in public spaces
- Install a cool roof
- Advocate for cool pavement and smog-absorbing materials
64% of Americans believe global warming is affecting air pollution.
Since 1970, when the Clean Air Act was enacted, the emissions of outdoor air pollutants have dropped 78%. Our cars are cleaner. Our fuels are cleaner. Most of the dirtiest coal-fired power plants have been shut down, and industry is cleaner.
|
|
|
This is What Happens to Your Body When You Breathe Polluted Air
A short video featuring Dr. Sanjay Gupta who explains what factors affect our air quality and some of the steps we can take to keep ourselves safe. Watch now.
|
|
|
Your Invitation to Help Build
a Sustainable Future
A TED Talk featuring Jim Snabe, chairman of the world's largest maritime shipping company, who says that if we want to avoid a climate disaster, we need much more radical leadership. He encourages companies to take big, bold actions to tackle climate change — and invites anyone to join the TED Future Forum, a new initiative focused on the role of business in advancing solutions to the climate crisis. Watch now.
|
|
|
The Human Cost of Coal Mining in China
A TED Talk, featuring Xiaojun "Tom" Wang, who grew up in the Chinese province of Shanxi, the world's largest coal producer. Each year, more than a billion tons of coal are dug out of Shanxi's mountains, and the impacts are devastating — from massive landslides to damaged cultural sites and threats to human health. Wang illuminates the need for sustainable alternatives to protect the environment and ancestral homes, underscoring the rich heritage and untapped potential of provinces like his own. Watch now.
|
|
|
National Collaboration for
Women's History Sites
A nonprofit organization that advocates for historic sites that preserve and interpret the role of women and gender non-conforming individuals in the American story. Website has a photo gallery, a list of publications, suffrage lesson plans and a descriptive map of hundreds of historic sites around the country. Learn more.
|
|
|
Homeless World Cup
A charity registered in Scotland, that envisions a world without homelessness. Their mission is to use soccer to support and inspire people who are homeless to change their lives as well as to change perceptions and attitudes towards people who are experiencing homelessness. Operates a Global Network, bringing together nearly 70 grassroot organizations that use soccer to tackle homelessness and social isolation. Provides a focus for – and a celebration of – the year-round activity with the Homeless World Cup, their landmark international tournament. Also supports day-to-day work by building international connections, facilitating skill sharing and helping our members to develop.
|
|
|
Sandy Hook Promise
A national nonprofit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Based in Newtown, Connecticut, their intent is to honor all victims of gun violence by turning their tragedy into a moment of transformation. By empowering youth to “know the signs” and uniting all people who value the protection of children, they can take meaningful actions in schools, homes, and communities to prevent gun violence and stop the tragic loss of life. Learn more.
|
|
|
Faith & Poverty: A Solidarity Response
The second of the three-part Faith & Poverty small group program series from JustFaith Ministries, examines what creates and what perpetuates poverty in our society. Looks at factors such as workers rights, housing, addiction and health care. Explores local poverty and introduces participants to tips and tools they need to respond. The program consists of eight 2-hour sessions, in which participants navigate questions such as: “Why are the poor poor?,” “Why don’t people in poverty just get a job?,” “What are some common hurdles that people in poverty face?,” and “What are some practical tools for alleviating poverty in my community?” In addition to the readings, group members engage in prayer and spiritual practices throughout the week and emerge better equipped to help alleviate poverty in their communities, as well as stand in solidarity with those experiencing poverty. Learn more.
|
|
|
In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the
United States
By Ana Raquel Minian. Reveals that the family separation policy in 2018 was only the latest chapter in a saga tracing back to the 1800s—one in which immigrants to the United States have been held without recourse to their constitutional rights. Braids together the stories of four migrants seeking to escape the turmoil of their homelands for the promise of America giving this history a human face. Tells the story of a Central American asylum seeker, a Cuban exile, a European war bride, and a Chinese refugee. Explores how "sites of rightlessness" have evolved, and what their existence has meant for our body politic. Though these "black sites" exist out of view for the average American, their reach extends into all of our lives: the growth of the for-profit prison industry traces its origins to the immigrant detention system, as does the emergence of Guantanamo and the gradual unraveling of the right to bail and the presumption of innocence. Through these narratives, readers see how the changing political climate surrounding immigration has played out in individual lives, and at what cost. Read more.
|
|
|
Jesuit Prison Education Network (JPEN)
A project of the Jesuit Social Research Institute, JPEN coordinates prison education efforts at six institutions of the Central Southern Province (UCS) of the Society of Jesus including:
- St. Louis University (MO)
- Rockhurst University (MO)
- Regis University (CO)
- Loyola University New Orleans (LA)
- Spring Hill College (AL)
- St. John’s College (Belize, Central America)
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
|
|
|
Nuclear War: A Scenario
By Annie Jacobsen. Looks at the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks and gives a vivid picture of what could happen if our nuclear guardians fail. Examines the scenario of a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States and the handful of minutes to respond, based on dozens of interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Read more.
|
|
|
Countdown: The Blinding Future of
Nuclear Weapons
By Sarah Scoles. An investigation into the modern nuclear weapons landscape. Drawing from years of on-the-ground reporting at the nation's nuclear weapons labs, questions the idea that having nuclear weapons keep us safe, deter attacks and prevent radioactive warfare. Reveals the state of nuclear-weapons technology, as well as how people working within the U.S. nuclear weapons complex have come to think about these bombs and the idea that someone, someday, might use them. Read more.
|
|
|
Death Row Welcomes You: Visiting Hours in the Shadow of the Execution Chamber
By Steven Hale. Traces the lives of condemned prisoners at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Tennessee—and the people who come to visit them. Looks at what brought them—the visitors and convicted murderers alike—to death row. Combining topics such as crime, death, and life inside prison—brings a sense of humanity, empathy, and insight earned by befriending death row prisoners . . . and standing witness to their final moments. Learn more.
|
|
|
We Refuse to Be Silent:
Women’s Voices on Justice for Black Men
Edited by Angela P. Dodson. Brings together the voices of more than thirty-five accomplished women writers on the topic of violence and injustice against Black men. These writers are journalists, authors, scholars, ministers, psychologists, counselors, and other experts. Each lends her voice to shine a new light on the injustices and dangers Black men face daily, and how women feel about the vulnerability of our sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, uncles, friends, and other males they care about as they navigate a world that often stereotypes and targets them.
|
|
|
We Make the Future
An organization built on the work of Race Class Narrative Action and rooted in Race Class Narrative research. Works to build a multiracial movement across age, class, faith, and zip code to re-instill hope in our democracy and build a brighter tomorrow. Offers resources such as digital tool kits, messaging guides, research reports, briefing recordings, free-to-use videos, presentation slides etc. Learn more.
|
|
|
How to Be an Active Citizen
and Spark Change
A TED Talk featuring Gabriel Marmentini, who explains why we can't rely on the state alone to solve all our problems — and presents four ingredients for someone to become a change-maker and engage in solving public issues. Also offers 7 specific ideas for taking action. Watch now.
|
|
|
Important Dates This Month |
|
|
Individuals Honored This Month |
|
|
May 1st
We are one, after all, you and I, together we suffer, together exist, and forever will recreate each other.
|
|
|
May 9th
I want a change, and a radical change. I want a change from an acquisitive society to a functional society, from a society of go-getters to a society of go-givers.
|
|
|
May 9th
Instead of building the peace by attacking injustices like starvation, disease, illiteracy, political and economic servitude, we spend trillions of dollars on war, until hatred and conflict have become the international preoccupation.
|
|
|
May 9th
How can we expect fate to let a righteous cause prevail when there is hardly anyone who will give himself up undividedly to a righteous cause?
|
|
|
May 19th
Here is what we seek: a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it.
|
|
|
May 20th
I am convinced that it is still best that I speak the truth, even if it costs me my life.
|
|
|
The Social Justice Resource Center is an independent, faith-based organization that is financially supported by private donations. We're an all-volunteer team that relies on support from visitors like you. If you like what we do and want to help support our work, please consider making a small donation. The Social Justice Resource Center is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Thank you!
|
|
|
Since 2017, there have been more than 450,000 visitors the Social Justice Resource Center website. We provide a wide variety of facts and figures on specific social issues as well as thousands of free resources including films, publications, links to other organizations, prayers, quotes, principles of social justice, key dates throughout the year, action ideas, Diocesan office contact information and biographies of famous people who have worked for social justice.
|
|
|
Every month we email our newsletter to about 4,300 people around the country. Each issue focuses on a social justice topic and has resources that have been recently added to our website. If you know of others who might be interested in receiving our newsletter, please forward this email on to them or let us know and we'll add them to our mailing list. For our previous Newsletters, click here. |
|
|
Contact@SocialJusticeResourceCenter.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
