We have been examining the definition and the applications of oppression the entirety of the semester. Up to this point, it’s safe to say that my understanding of oppression is some form of unjust, unfair living and control enforced by some entity, over a prolonged period of time. Using this we can investigate whether or not we can claim Climate Change as oppressive. Like many examples of oppression in history, climate change and oppression have a shared beginning, HUMANS. Human beings are far from being any type of perfect, we are possessive, we are money and power hungry. These bad qualities of humans typically leads to self serving tactics, which can and have led to climate change issues, as well as an ample amount of examples of oppression. These include the oppression persons of color experience every day at the hands of racist and prejudiced laws, or even by supremacists. The unequal pay women receive can also be viewed as an example of oppression that started from humans.
Now that I’ve addressed how something created by humans can be oppressive, I can focus on why can climate change specifically be considered oppression. Climate Change in a brief synopsis is a global phenomenon where the Earth’s ozone layer has been shrinking, allowing direct UV light to hit the polar ice caps melting them. Because of the ozone layer being quickly depleting, oceans are becoming larger, islands are being lost, temperatures are rising, and many more environmental issues. Global warming affects all humans on the planet of course, but it affects those who are of lower income and who don’t have the means to keep themselves safe. These people are subject to any number of problems as a result of climate change such as loss of homes dud to storms or wildfires. The more affluent humans however have the means to continue to survive well after their belongings are destroyed by environmental issues. They are even ensuring that their pockets are remaining full, by lobbying against policies and laws that would help the Earth and the people who are being affected. So since the 1% are actively and have consistently forced people to have unfair and unjust means to live, which as stated before is the definition of oppression.
