By: Yildiz Subuk, Peak Associate
In an East Prairie Metis Settlement, the atmosphere has ashened, accompanied by an orange tinge and smokey clouds in the sky. Trees burn and homes are destroyed, causing the community in this reserve to be displaced. About 385 kilometres northwest of this region is the unaffected city of Edmonton. While both of these places are governed by the same province, one region suffers exponentially more than the other. Many of us live comfortably in a suburban or urban area, away from the harsh reality of environmental degradation. We often believe the effects of climate change are approaching us, but when we zoom out, we may not be aware of how climate change currently impacts marginalized communities, especially lower–income people and countries.
The terms climate change and global warming are often confused with each other, and it can be easy to feed into the notion that climate change is eventually going to affect everyone. While that’s true to some extent, climate change tends to impact those living in lower socioeconomic conditions much more than the rest of the population. To understand this, it’s integral to differentiate between climate change and global warming. The difference is described well in a video series called The Climate Explainers. The series likens global warming to one big house with multiple rooms, while climate change impacts each room differently. While the house being affected may cause problems for everyone residing in it, certain rooms tend to bear the brunt harder than others. The entire world is being affected by global warming, but climate change is disproportionately impacting the living conditions of lower-income communities and countries.
According to the United Nations, between 25 million and one billion people — especially those residing in lower-income socioeconomic conditions — will be displaced due to climate change by 2050. Because that number indicates a future problem, it may be easy to overlook the issue in the present day. However, the same report states that tens of millions of people have already been displaced or killed across the world due to climate disasters. This is a clear indication that climate change is not going to just affect the future — it’s affecting the present at an alarming rate.
It is a privilege to not have to worry about ecological disasters.
The reason why the daunting reality of climate change is often hidden from many of us is due to privilege. It is a privilege to not have to worry about ecological disasters. According to the World Bank, “only one-tenth of the world’s greenhouse gases are emitted by 74 lowest income countries,” and yet their number of natural disasters has increased by eight times in the last 10 years. Various new industries are now accelerating the consequences of climate change, a prominent one being artificial intelligence (AI). The carbon footprint required to power AI models will measure up to 14% of the global carbon emissions by 2040.
Additionally, electronic waste (or e-waste, which contaminates soil and water with lead and mercury) produced by the AI industry will measure up to 120 million metric tonnes per year by 2050. That can cause health issues for those residing near where that waste is produced or disposed of. One study found that “China and certain countries within Africa receive up to 80% of the world’s e-waste.” Disposing of these materials is particularly difficult for “low and middle-income countries,” leading to adverse health effects. While AI can be perceived as a useful tool, it is not worth the environmental degradation or human rights abuses.
Most individuals are aware the world is heating up, and most do not outright deny the existence of climate change. Instead of only acknowledging that climate change will affect our future, we need to acknowledge how it has already affected those who are less privileged, and advocate for better climate policies. Climate change for the privileged is an issue for the future, but climate change for those who aren’t is an ever-growing issue of the present day.
