In Texas, a new study will determine where extreme weather hazards and environmental justice collide

(Inside Climate News, 17 Oct 2022) Researchers hope the results of the study, funded by a $66 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, will empower citizens to advocate for more equitable climate solutions.

The way Geeta Persad sees it, the nation’s great coastal cities are facing an environmental reckoning with threats from both the air and the sea.

In the air, there is the belching, toxic exhaust from factories, petrochemical facilities, sewage treatment plants and other industrial operations which has been linked to a range of health ailments—from asthma to cancers—in the country’s urban centers.

From the sea, because of climate change, rising sea levels and the creeping threat of hurricanes and other weather events growing more frequent and more intense have increased the risk of debilitating floods.

“You have an amazing coalescence of these different factors,” said Persad, a climate scientist at the University of Texas-Austin. “There’s the flooding, and the air quality and the industry, and the communities. There’s hurricanes, there’s heat waves, there’s everything you can think of.”

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Inside Climate News, 17 Oct 2022: In Texas, a new study will determine where extreme weather hazards and environmental justice collide