POVERTY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

How was Poverty in America first defined? Poverty was first defined by Mollie Orshansky January 1965.

How did she define it? "Orshansky based her poverty thresholds on the economy

food plan--the cheapest of four food plans developed by the Department of Agriculture.”

So how does it work? Each person is assigned to one out of 48 different possible

poverty thresholds which are based on this size of the family and the ages of the members.

But aren’t there problems with the thresholds? The official poverty thresholds do not vary geographically,

but they are updated for inflation. "Orshansky was aware of the inconsistency involved, but

there was no other alternative; she reasoned that the result would yield "a conservative underestimate" of poverty."

Poverty Thresholds for 2007 by Size of Family and Number of Related Children Under 18 Years

Size of Family Unit

Weighted Average

Thresholds

Related children under 18 years

None One Two Three Four Five Six

Seven 8 or more

One person (unrelated individual) 10,590

..Under 65 years 10,787 10,787

..65 years and over 9,944 9,944

Two people 13,540 ..Householder under 65 years 13,954 13,884 14,291 ..Householder 65 years and over 12,550 12,533 14,237

Three people 16,530 16,218 16,689 16,705

Four people 21,203 21,386 21,736 21,027 21,100

Five people 25,080 25,791 26,166 25,364 24,744 24,366

Six people 28,323 29,664 29,782 29,168 28,579 27,705 27,187

Seven people 32,233 34,132 34,345 33,610 33,098 32,144 31,031 29,810

Eight people 35,816 38,174 38,511 37,818 37,210 36,348 35,255 34,116 33,827

Nine people or more 42,739 45,921 46,143 45,529 45,014 44,168 43,004 41,952 41,691 40,085

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Poverty is nothing we can ignore.

"Currently over 1 billion people-- two thirds of them women-- live in

extreme poverty on less than US$1 a day. This figure rises to 2.8 billion if a

standard of US$ 2 a day is used (OECD 2001).

Climate change is happening and it will increasingly affect the poor.

Water scarcity is already a major problem for the world’s poor. The number of

people impacted by water scarcity is projected to increase from about 1.7

billion people today to around 5 billion people by 2025, independent of climate

change (IPCC 2001b).

Floods

The increasing amount of floods is posing a threat for the less adaptable areas.

Floods lead to the destruction of homes and crops.

The contaminated water leads to a rapid spread of diseases and illnesses.

Drought The increasing temperatures

dry out bodies of water that the communities would usually rely on. In addition, a lack of rainfall in certain areas contributes to the drought.

This leads to the death of crops, livestock, and even people due to starvation, thirst, or malnutrition.

To the left is Bangladesh, a countryIn danger due to its low-lying coast-line, and high population density.

The Philippines, also a coastal area, is at risk of catastrophic results from natural disasters.

Everyone needs to work to protect our environment for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind. Everybody has different strengths and abilities and should use them to work towards a common goal. Those who are more privileged should do more to address the issues of poverty and climate change.

BIBLIOGRAPHYAfrican Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Department for International

Development, UK, Directorate-General for Development, EU Commission, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Development Cooperation, The Netherlands, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, United Nations Development Programme, and The World Bank. "Poverty and Climate Change." Oecd.org. 30 Oct. 2002. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 12 Mar. 2009 <http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html>.

DeNavas-Walt, Carmen, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessicac C. Smith. "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007." Census.gov. Aug. 2008. US Census Bureau. 12 Mar. 2009 <http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf>.

Department of Health and Human Services, Gordon M. Fisher. "The Development and History of the U.S. Poverty Thresholds —." Http://aspe.hhs.gov/_/index.cfm. 16 Dec. 2005. United States Department of Health and Human Services. 12 Mar. 2009 <http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/papers/HPTGSSIV.htm>.

"Info about Global Warming Future Climate Forecast and a range of solutions." Info about Global Warming and a range of solutions. 18 Apr. 2009 <http://www.stopglobalwarming.com.au/global_warming_future_climate_forecast.html>.

Stock Photography: Search Royalty Free Images & Photos. 18 Apr. 2009 <http://www.istockphoto.com>.

U.S. Census Bureau, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division. "How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty (Official Measure)." Census.gov. 26 Aug. 2008. US Census Bureau. 12 Mar. 2009 <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/povdef.html>.

Mark Janzer Jeffrey Hatakeda Nick Cicollela Ben Wartel Tung Pham