March 31, 2010
Why Global Warming is Especially Bad for Women
Global warming isn’t good for anybody, but according to these statistics it looks like women could catch the worst of it. Unfair? Absolutely. But that doesn’t change the facts:
- Women are 14 times more likely to die than men in natural disasters like floods, heat waves, droughts, and hurricanes. African American women were the largest demographic affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and an estimated 87% of unmarried women and almost 100% of married women lost their livelihoods when a cyclone hit Myanmar in 2008.
- Pregnant and lactating women are more vulnerable to diseases, which are spreading to new areas as temperatures rise.
- Women in third world drought-ridden communities must spend more time searching and growing food and less time on education and family, perhaps even turning to young, unhappy marriages as a means to survive.
- Women earn less than men in most parts of the world, which means as food prices rise women have a harder time feeding their families and making ends meet.
- Men are often killed during periods of fighting and conflict while women suffer beatings, rape, anxiety, and depression.
- Women on already tight budgets struggle to pay for medical care as their children develop more cases of asthma and allergies as plants and pollens move to new areas.
Clearly working to slow and even stop global warming is worth the effort. Recycle, reduce your carbon footprint, and be green!
(Photo courtesy of spekulator on stock.xchng)
