African American Climate Initiative
New and News
- Read the op-ed on mercury pollution titled "Mercury pollution rule also God's rule"
- Reverend Michael McClain of the National Council of Churches, talks our education Initiative in South Carolina. Watch the youtube video here!
- Click here for the African Americans and Climate Change Initiative March 2011 Newsletter
Learn More About Climate Change and African Americans
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Urban Impacts - Scientists predict that heat waves in North America will become more intense, more frequent, and longer lasting in the second half of this century. Urban areas are typically covered in surfaces which retain heat. As a result, temperatures in these areas are higher, especially during heat waves. African Americans are more than twice as likely as whites to live in the inner city. Non-Hispanic blacks were 50% more likely to die in the heat wave than non-Hispanic whites.
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Asthma Impacts - In every major city in the US, blacks are more likely than whites to be exposed to higher air toxics concentrations. Climate change is expected to increase the incidence of asthma in the general population. African Americans are nearly three times as likely to be hospitalized or killed by asthma as whites.
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African Americans and Climate Change - Download a two-session adult education curriculum provides information and activities to help African American congregations understand more fully the impacts global climate change will have on African American communities. Click here.
- In February, the NCC held a Climate Summit for Heads of Communion to discuss the impacts of climate change on communities of color and low-income communities.
- Read about Climate Change Impacts on African Americans from the Center for Policy Analysis and Research
- Review the fact sheet Climate Change and African Americans for highlight and more information.
- In 2008, the NCC launched a Southeast Climate Initiative with African American churches in North Carolina and South Carolina. The initiative is now branching out to Georgia and Virginia.