Why Are Black Neighborhoods Underwater? Science Points to the Wealthy.

Yahoo

4 days ago

In January, a relentless wave of wildfires tore through Los Angeles, reducing a historic Black community to ash and claiming 29 lives. Later that month, a rare winter storm brought heavy snow to the Southeast and the Gulf Coast. Eleven people perished.
Then, in March, more than 100 tornadoes ripped through the South in two days, leaving 42 dead across eight states. Weeks later, rain and extensive flooding soaked the region, resulting in hundreds of water rescues and 25 deaths.
All of these disasters — from wildfires to floods and tornadoes — have connections to global warming. In America, researchers say, they all are connected to how much money is in your bank account, too.
A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change this month found that emissions from the wealthiest Americans have led to increased heat waves and flooding, particularly in communities of color. Scientists say that the findings underscore an often overlooked aspect of the climate crisis — that those least responsible for global warming often face the most severe impacts of environmental change.
Or, put another way: Black communities in the United States are bearing the brunt of a climate crisis that they did little to cause.
And, researchers say, the toll of climate change also disproportionately costs Black Americans their lives.
Since 1999, Black people have died from natural disasters and extreme weather, at a rate nearly twice as high as white people. In the South, it is even more pronounced, with Black people dying at a rate in some states that is more than three times higher than for white people.
'This is not an academic discussion — it's about the real impacts of the climate crisis today,' said Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, a researcher with the policy group Climate Analytics and a co-author of the Nature Climate Change study.
Schleussner and his fellow researchers found that emissions from the wealthiest Americans have directly caused these increased heat waves, winter storms, and flooding. In all, the world's richest 10% are responsible for nearly two-thirds of global warming since 1990. Yet it is neighborhoods like those in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and St. Louis — where Black families emit far less climate change-causing carbon — who are left to pick up the pieces after each calamity.
The disasters are deadly — even for those that survive them. They've left thousands of Black families in the aftermath without housing and jobs. And with every passing day, researchers say, a disproportionate number of Black families are grappling with punishing heat, flooding, and pollution — threats that are growing more severe each year.
'Climate action that doesn't address the outsize responsibilities of the wealthiest members of society risks missing one of the most powerful levers we have to reduce future harm,' Schleussner said.
Lessening those harms can be difficult for already under-resourced Black communities, said Gabrielle Cole, a St. Louis resident who lost her home to tornadoes earlier this month.
'We are just unprepared,' said Cole. 'We are unprepared as a community, and climate change and weather events like this are mainly impacting predominantly Black areas, predominantly underserved communities.'
Scientists say that the devastation caused by global warming is becoming increasingly common. Last year, the U.S. experienced 27 separate weather and climate disasters with damages of at least $1 billion each, making it the second-highest year on record, just behind 2023, which saw 28 such events. In all, this decade has seen about 23 disasters per year with damages at $1 billion or more. In comparison, even when accounting for inflation, the increase is dramatic. The 1980s averaged 3.3 per year, the 1990s averaged 5.7, the 2000s averaged 6.7, and the 2010s averaged 13.1.
The pattern is clear: As the climate crisis accelerates, it magnifies long-standing racial and economic inequities, making survival and recovery even harder for those with the fewest resources, Cole said.
Black neighborhoods are disproportionately exposed to extreme weather, receive less disaster recovery aid, and face steeper barriers to recovery. After experiencing roof damage during a 2024 storm, Cole's insurance company told her they'd stop insuring her home in June 2025. Then she lost her home altogether to a tornado. Nearly 30 people died during the storm system.
'It comes at us from all directions,' she said, first with the storms and then the fallout. 'There's a lot of people strategizing on how to acquire Black land after these events, and to take these homes from us in a vulnerable state.'
Below, you can click through a story map that outlines the real life impacts of climate change on Black communities.
The world's wealthiest 10% of people — defined as those who earn at least $47,000 per year — contributed seven times more to the rise in monthly heat extremes around the world than the global average. While millions of Black Americans fall into the world's top 10%, the median income for Black Americans is $43,000, roughly $15,000 less than white Americans. That means more than half of Black adults are making less than $47,000 per year.
Several studies show that Black households emit less carbon per capita than white households, and white households are the largest emitters of greenhouse gas in the country.
'This is something that we've known for a long time through our experience,' said Lemir Teron, an associate professor in Howard University's Department of Earth, Environment, and Equity. 'Black Americans, at least amongst Americans, contribute much less to climate change, but we feel it the most.'
Teron, who was not part of the study's research team, said that the findings show that true responsibility 'lies across all sectors, especially those with the largest environmental impact,' he added. That means a 'stronger critique of the industries driving climate change — like the transportation and building sectors — and of wealthy individuals.'
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