It’s time to visit the main topic at hand: the intersection of climate change and disability rights. Want to know why this is an incredibly important topic – and now, the focus of my life’s work? Here goes…
First off, the climate is changing. And that’s a big deal.
As many folks know, climate change poses a huge danger to the natural world, humans, and our built environment. Almost entirely because of human actions, the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere has gone through the roof over the past century-and-a-half. Greenhouse gases act like a blanket around the earth, trapping the sun’s warmth so we aren’t, well, the temperature of space. These gases – the most well-known of which is carbon dioxide (CO2) – have gone up and down over millennia. When the concentrations of GHGs increase, global temperatures go up; when GHG concentrations go down, the temperature gets cooler. Humans, by burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests and doing other industrial processes (like making cement), have caused GHGs in the atmosphere to skyrocket over the last 150 years. In the mid-late 1800s, before we started burning coal as fuel, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere was about 270 parts per million (ppm); now, it’s at an unthinkable 415 ppm. We have also released other more-potent GHGs, such as methane (CH4) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that, frankly, aren’t discussed enough these days. As a result, the Earth has warmed by about 1.2°C, or 2°F, which has led to massive changes in the environment. Plus, we are still churning out GHGs while getting to net-zero-carbon will take decades – and because warming lags behind GHG growth, we are destined for more warming regardless.
That warming has significant consequences. For example:
- — A warmer atmosphere makes for stronger storms, more intense wildfires, deeper droughts, shrinking glaciers and snowpack, and many other direct environmental impacts.
- — The oceans have sucked up a good amount of CO2 out of the atmosphere, which makes them more acidic. This harms coral reefs and can devastate fish, crustaceans and other sea creatures.
- — When things warm up, ice melts and water expands. Melting mountaintop glaciers and ice sheets (like those on Greenland or Antarctica), plus expanding water, means that the surface level of the earth’s oceans continues to rise. This threatens low-lying islands and coastal areas.
- — Animals and plants will either have a hard time withstanding warming, or they will migrate because of it. We’ll end up with expanding deserts near the equator, and more tropical plants inching toward the Arctic. We may also lose some species, including animals and plants that humans harvest for food.
- — Warming can kick in dangerous “positive feedback loops” that increase temperatures even without human activity. For example, warming temperatures can lead to more forest fires, which release CO2 and kill the trees that pull carbon out of the atmosphere. As permafrost – permanently frozen soil – in the Arctic melts, bacteria eat the thawing soil and plant matter and release dangerous methane. Feedback loops raise the danger of indefinite, drastic warming.
The magazine Rolling Stone, commemorating us reaching 415 ppm in 2019, notes that “The last time CO2 levels were at 415 ppm, during the Pliocene period about 3 million years ago… Beech trees grew near the South Pole. There was no Greenland ice sheet, and probably not a West Antarctic ice sheet, either. Sea levels were 50 or 60 feet (or more) higher.” As I mentioned earlier, changes to the environment tend to lag behind changes in GHGs – so we may have some very drastic transformations on the way. (Will oceans rise 50 or 60 feet? Well, that depends on how quickly we reduce our emissions and, hopefully, start “sequestering” CO2 by pulling it out of the atmosphere.)
This all threatens to upend nature and society along with it. Over millennia, humans have built a system of farms, cities, dams, ports, island nations, and plenty of immovable infrastructure to hold all of it together. A changing climate threatens those very systems. For example:
- — Stronger storms and wildfires damage or destroy homes and infrastructure, while people may be hurt or perish in a natural disaster. Pollution during and after those events can threaten public health (for example, storms can lead to damaged sanitation infrastructure with related consequences).
- — More frequent and intense heat waves impact public health and may stress the electric grid if too many people are blasting air-conditioners.
- — Changes in rainfall, snowfall and glacier melt threaten freshwater supplies for farming, drinking, sanitation, industrial processes and more.
- — Rising oceans can flood islands, coastal cities, coastal infrastructure, and the shipping ports that facilitate so much international trade.
- — We have domesticated plants and animals for farming and livestock, but our farms might not work well in a different climate (especially depending on the type of crop, animal, and/or climate impact). Changing migration patterns of other animals and insects, including pollinators like honeybees and butterflies, may affect our food supplies.
These and other consequences can lead to even more drastic impacts on society. I often call these “secondary,” “tertiary,” and “cascading” impacts of climate change. Just a few examples include:
- — People may leave their homes due to the impacts of climate change. For example, they may need to leave a low-lying island overtaken by rising oceans or find a new home after theirs was destroyed in a wildfire. This is called “climate migration” or “climate displacement.”
- — Climate stressors can lead to violent conflict. For example, there might be “water wars” over diminishing freshwater supplies. Mass migration can also lead to resentment and even conflict. (Going the other way, climate-related conflict can create refugees).
- — The global economy will certainly take a hit from climate change. There could be any number of causes, such as droughts impacting agriculture or flooded ports harming international trade.
- — The combination of shrinking natural environments (from deforestation, wildfires, pollution and more) brings humans more in contact with wildlife. This raises the danger of diseases moving from animals to humans – such as was the case for the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic.
- — A shrinking economy will stress government budgets. Governments may also have greater costs from climate impacts (say, repairing damaged infrastructure or having huge health spending during a pandemic). This endangers the stability of government and its services.
Long story short: climate change is a big deal and is already impacting societies and economies around the world. Luckily, business and government has been working hard to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. But there is much, much more to be done.
So now that that’s out of the way – what’s the connection to disability?
Well, disability is plenty complex just like climate change. There are several broad disability categories with thousands of specific disabilities between them. Two people with the same disability may have a different experience with how it affects their body, mind, senses or general comfort. (Anecdote: I have a C5-6 spinal cord injury with quadriplegia; my experience is different than other C5-6 quads, and definitely different than somebody who injured their spinal cord much higher or lower on their neck/torso.) And people’s other life experiences – their income, race, gender identity, nationality, place of residence, education, and so on – make it so disability is ultimately an intersectional issue.
Before getting into details of climate justice, we need to consider how we look at disability. The classic perspective was through the medical model of disability. The medical model basically says that being able-bodied is normal and it’s just fine for society to be built for able-bodied folks; disability, on the other hand, is a medical issue that is inherently negative and must be addressed through medicine and technology. On the other hand, there is the social model of disability, which gained traction through the modern disability rights movement. This says that we must recognize there’s a broad range of physical, mental and other characteristics in society, and society should be built in a universally accessible way. Any barriers to equality – whether a lack of physical access or discrimination in hiring – is actually what causes somebody’s disability; the lack of equitable access is the disabling factor. My go-to example of this is a wheelchair-user in a two-story building: the medical model says a building with only stairs is just fine, and the “impairment” is the disability (basically, “tough luck”); the social model, though, says that it’s the lack of an elevator that truly causes the disability. In addition to the social model having more moral weight around equity and tackling oppression, it usually makes logistical sense: adding an elevator is a whole lot easier than trying to make the wheelchair-user walk again (which is usually impossible) and that elevator will transport multiple people with disabilities (PWDs) over its lifetime.
When we consider disability and climate change, we must accept the reality that the world is not fully accessible and that too many people are still stuck in the “medical model” mentality. Also, the lack of universal access means that we need to keep some of those medically-related issues in mind. But wherever possible, it’s important to frame the discussion using the social model – and that will help us push for more universal access and a truly inclusive future.
Now it’s brainstorming time! Check out how these climate impacts affect PWDs and then think about how they might fit into the medical and social models.
- — In extreme heat events, certain disabilities increase the risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (e.g., diabetes and high-level spinal cord injuries). Meanwhile, PWDs are both lower-income and have fewer housing choices on average, so they generally have less access to air conditioning and the funds to pay for high AC bills. PWDs also have disproportionately low personal vehicle ownership, so they may need to wait at outdoor bus stops on their way to finding an accessible air-conditioned building.
- — In the case of storms and other acute disasters, PWDs may not have access to accessible transportation to evacuate (or they may not have somebody to drive a vehicle for them). If they are able to evacuate, they often need to take extra supplies; then, they’ll need to secure appropriate shelter until they can return or find a new home. PWDs who need personal assistance or regular medical care (say, for dressing or transfers or bathroom care) will need to arrange that until they can recover from the disaster. If their home is destroyed, they may have difficulty finding affordable, accessible shelter and may not have enough money to fully recover.
- — PWDs on average have fewer assets and lower income than the able-bodied population; many also receive vital benefits and supports through the government. If the economy falters due to the stresses of climate change, already-economically-disadvantaged groups will have a tougher time than more privileged groups. PWDs, who disproportionately face employment discrimination, may find it difficult to land jobs in a tough job market. If economic stresses lead to cutbacks in government services, it may jeopardize life-sustaining benefits for PWDs.
- — Migration is one of the least discussed but most concerning parts of climate change. PWDs already face barriers regarding relocation – such as finding a destination country with legal protections around disability, getting work visas in a discriminatory job environment, and enrolling in the government services needed for health and quality-of-life. Finding appropriate, accessible transportation during migration and maintaining the necessary medical and personal care along the way are other significant barriers (especially when moving over rough terrain, with smugglers, etc.). And right now, there are few if any legal frameworks for addressing climate migrants (unlike with conflict refugees), which harms all environmental migrants but especially PWDs and other groups with existing barriers.
- — Climate change consequences can sometimes lead to disability or exacerbate it. For example, an able-bodied person may be trapped in rubble during a storm and get a life-long disability from their injuries. Wildfire smoke can lead to asthma or other respiratory disabilities. Expanding disease vectors, including mosquito-borne diseases and new epidemic/pandemic viruses, can likewise lead to lifelong disability; we are seeing this with the nonfatal COVID-19 outcomes including long-term cardiovascular damage, amputations, cognitive impacts and more.
Each of these impacts will raise serious dangers to the health, safety and independence of PWDs around the world. They come from a combination of legitimate medical concerns, such as a high risk of heat exhaustion whenever somebody with a relevant disability is outside, and social inequities, such as disproportionately low access to air conditioning. Problems are only exacerbated when we consider intersectionality and multiple marginalized identities – so it’s an especially inequitable world for PWDs of color, women and LGBTQ groups, people with multiple disabilities, those living in poverty or slum-like conditions, unemployed PWDs, and so on. In the end, the main point is clear: PWDs are disproportionately affected by the many impacts of climate change and much of that is the result of inequitable infrastructure and social systems.
Of course, this can’t go unaddressed. We must create a fully inclusive world that ensures health, safety, independence, and human rights for the disability community. As we reduce emissions and prepare for the future, we must ensure all steps include universal accessibility and decisions are made with the input of PWDs. In the next week or so, I’ll do a couple blogs explaining inclusive approaches to mitigation (reducing emissions and slowing climate change) and adaptation (preparing for the consequences of climate change).
But for now, that’s the end of today’s explainer. Happy new year everyone – catch you in 2021!