Saving the planet: report debunks myth that African Americans don't care about the environment.When racial discrimination and inadequate education are immediate worries for Africans Americans, environmental welfare isn't a priority--or so says the stereotype. But "Dispelling Old Myths: African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. Concern for the Environment," a report published in the June 2003 issue of Environment magazine, disproves many of these assumptions. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a study conducted in the Detroit metropolitan area, 23% more blacks than whites cited neighborhood environmental problems as among their most significant concerns. Although whites mentioned global environmental concerns 16% more often than blacks, most of their responses were in regard to ozone depletion Ozone depletion describes two distinct, but related observations: a slow, steady decline of about 4 percent per decade in the total amount of ozone in Earth's stratosphere since around 1980; and a much larger, but seasonal, decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions , which results in skin cancer, a disease that affects whites disproportionately more than African Americans. Paul Mohai, the author of the report and an associate professor at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment, says, "There is so much evidence [that blacks] are concerned [about the environment]. Unfortunately, those concerns have been invisible to the majority of Americans and [to] traditional environmentalists." African American environmental concerns may be a result of the poorer environmental conditions in which many blacks live. But there is no statistical difference between the way blacks and whites rate the seriousness of nature preservation issues, such as lack of open space, oil spills This is a list of oil spills throughout the world. Large Oil Spills to Date Oil Spills of over 100,000 tonnes or 30 million US gallons, ordered by Tonnes Spill / Tanker Location Date *Tons of crude oil link , and national park preservation. In some cases, when compared with white Americans The term white American (often used interchangeably with "Caucasian American"[2] and within the United States simply "white"[3]) is an umbrella term that refers to people of European, Middle Eastern, and North African descent residing in the United States. , substantially higher percentages of African Americans rated rain forest extinction, acid rain, and the greenhouse effect greenhouse effect: see global warming. greenhouse effect Warming of the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere caused by water vapour, carbon dioxide, and other trace gases in the atmosphere. Visible light from the Sun heats the Earth's surface. as "very serious." This negates the assumption that social issues affecting African Americans take precedent over their concerns about the environment. "The. results are more than just a fluke fluke, parasitic flatworm of the trematoda class, related to the tapeworm. Instead of the cilia, external sense organs, and epidermis of the free-living flatworms, adult flukes have sucking disks with which they cling to their hosts and an external cuticle that ," says Mohai. The report also explains that African Americans also take an active role in dealing with environmental issue. In 1980, protests by African Americans in Warren County, North Carolina Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 19,972. Its county seat is Warrenton6. History The county was formed in 1779 from the northern half of Bute County. , led campaigns to reduce hazardous pollution in the state inciting congress to pass the Superfund Act.
Respondents who "often" or "always" make
pro-environment lifestyle choices.
Blacks Whites
Recycle 44% 64%
Buy pesticide-free food 37% 29%
Drive less 17% 10%
Refuse to eat meat 15% 7%
SOURCE: ENVIRONMENT MAGAZINE
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