By Samantha Vaughan

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dawn Bowen

Abstract

Climate change is one of the great problems that today’s society faces, but for some people, the effects of climate change will be felt more strongly than for others. This paper investigates the link between socioeconomic status and climate change, especially how the effects of climate change can exacerbate poverty and health risks in low-income areas. Two case studies will be used in this paper. One is the effects of the 1995 Chicago heat wave, and the other is the effects of the 2022 Kentucky floods. Each of them had a disproportionate impact on low income communities and were especially difficult to recover from. The paper also explores climate justice and how the people and places hit harder by climate change can grow and recover. Overall, this paper focuses on interactions between climate change and low income areas and how the two can exacerbate each other.