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East Los Angeles

The air quality is L.A. is straight up horrible. Different pollutants in the air come from car exhaustion, ports, and industries. Low-income families are mostly affected because some of these facilities are down the street we live in. 

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Coal Mining

Coal mining is not as popular as it was decades ago but former and current miners are still experiencing health issues. It's a conventional energy source that is very carbon intensive meaning this fossil fuel is dirty af. Workers face respiratory damage from breathing the dust and particulates. The illnesses they can develop are COPD, coal worker's pnuemoconiosis (black lung), and progressive massive fibrosis. Communities around mining sites also increase their risk of having cancer and diseases. My grandfather was a coal miner and his body broke down. He had spinal injuries. He had black lung disease that resulted in an enlarged heart. It was tough for everybody especially for my mom and her siblings.

Coal is still used because it’s inexpensive. The first step needed to move away from using coal is to admit that clean coal don’t exist. And I’m sure this industry knows that there’s other energy sources available but it’s just more convenient to get coal, even at the expense of their workers’ health.  

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Pesticide Poisoning, Pt. 2

I recommend this film. It goes way more into detail on how banned chemicals in the U.S. are sold to other countries regardless of the potential health problems.

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This happened last year. Toxic pesticides are not being banned because of money donations.

[genderandclimatechange-blog]

Pesticide Poisoning

A lot of farmers use pesticides on their fields and it can accumulate in your body. The symptoms of mild or early poisoning can include headaches, fatigue, nausea, eye irritation, dizziness, etc. These are symptoms that can be treated but overexposure to chemicals sometimes can’t be reversible.

Take DDT for example. Rachel Carson wrote about the toxic nature of this pesticide and eventually it was banned. It can’t be used in the U.S. But that didn’t stop this country’s manufacturers from making it and exporting it to third-world countries. It’s a fundamental problem of attempting to have complete free trade and hyperglobalization. Health and safety regulations are put aside by a GATT panel or WTO judges. This leads to farmers and surrounding communities suffering major health complications.

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Pre-harvesting Sugarcane, Pt. 2

This is a biomass that’s being burned so the emissions produced create similar health impacts to burning biofuels. 

It’s recognize as a problem. 

And there’s a lot of support to stop agricultural burning. An alternative that has been very effective in Brazil is to green harvest sugercane. The plant’s waste is left alone and turns into mulch. The mulch is then converted to bioplastics or biofuels. It can also produce electricity. 

[genderandclimatechange-blog]

Pre-harvesting Sugarcane

It depends on the state or country but sometimes it’s the men that are working in agriculture fields. Sugercane is burned prior to harvesting to minimize waste and produce a good yield. But smoke. ash, and particulate matter is suspended in the air and that can increase the likelihood of having cancer or respiratory illnesses. Especially to the farmers because of their close proximity to the burning. 

This practice is not unique to developing countries. It also happens in U.S. states like Texas or Florida.

[genderandclimatechange-blog]

Biomass Fuel for Cooking, Pt. 2

There are some plans to help this issue.

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves have a goal to improve the stoves 100 million households by 2020.

More efficient traditional stoves are built with different designs and materials. They help reduced the fuel input and smoke output.

Gas stoves would be a great modification but...

Who’s going to pay for them?

Gas is not always accessible. Sometimes people need to travel to fill their gas tank/cylinder.

Traditional cookstoves are infused with people’s culture. It affects the taste of meals, so it’s hard to break away from the customs.

[genderandclimatechange-blog]

Biomass Fuel for Cooking

40% of the world’s population is burning biomass (wood, charcoal, animal waste, crop residue) for household cooking. Because of gender roles, collecting fuels and cooking food is a women’s responsibility that leads them and children to be predominately impacted by the pollutants in the air. 

I’m assuming most of us are familiar with burning charcoal to cook meat. We know about the black fumes that are created but it’s more than just smoke. Black carbon is release into the air. These tiny particles are harmful to the people’s health and the environment.

Since black carbon is black, it absorbs the sun’s light. And it changes the sun’s visible light rays to infrared. Both of these actions warm the air.

It also causes 4.3 million people to prematurely die every year because they develop illnesses. 

Some of the illnesses include:

Stroke

Heart Disease

COPD

Pneumonia

Lung Cancer

Tuberculosis 

Personal Context:

My mom grew up during the 70s and 80s in Colima, Mexico and her mom used a combination of gas and traditional stoves. The crazy thing is that they used the traditional stove inside their house. WTF! She says that everything inside their house would be covered in black particles. She and her siblings would go to sleep and wake up with black carbon all over their noses. She has tested positive for TB and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Her old x-rays showed tiny black spots are in her lungs. The point is that her family didn’t use solid fuels daily but it still impacted her health.