"Fundamental to abortion care is … infrastructure," Marisa Falcon, a practical support organization expert, told CG on the threshold of a major winter storm expected to bring power outages, transportation disruptions, and business closures to much of the U.S.
There's a whole lot going on around the world: This weekly brief from Climate, Gendered isn't intended to be exhaustive but rather your chance to spend just a few moments on a handful of items with the potential to disproportionately impact over half the global population — plus, the ideas that might make a difference.
Earlier this month, CG underscored the potential environmental impacts of the energy- and water-hungry data centers that enabled users to generate nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes with the Elon Musk-owned artificial intelligence chatbot Grok. Since then, countries have taken action while Musk's AI company has announced changes to the chatbot. But broader changes may be in the mix, as communities appear increasingly concerned about the boom in data centers — or DCs — and their possible impacts on energy costs, land use, water supplies, and overall well-being. A recent review of public records by Heatmap News found that at least 25 data center projects planned in the United States were canceled in 2025 following outcry from residents, quadrupling the figure from 2024. The report revealed additional figures that could inform collective efforts against unbridled DC development. Read more…
In early January, CG covered the publication of researcher Michael Haselhuhn's study, which found that some men may minimize climate crisis concerns to avoid appearing feminine. A summary of the research at PsyPost suggested that reframing climate action as protective, courageous, and dutiful might move the needle for these individuals. But in a new article from climate reporter Sammy Roth, Haselhuhn suggested that strategy may not work. "Maybe it ticks the needle a little bit," he told Roth, "but it's not the answer." CG asked public health researcher Dominick Shattuck, who specializes in men's health, masculinity, and behavior change, for his take: "The study also shows something hopeful: These pressures are not permanent." Read more…
The 80-year-old international humanitarian organization CARE, aimed at fighting poverty and improving well-being, told CG it has been working in Venezuela "since 2019 through local partners." About 70% of the people it has reached in the country are women. The country has been in the headlines since early January, when a U.S. military operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with U.S. President Donald Trump later saying his country would take over Venezuela's oil reserves. With recent U.S. activities and pressures being felt there, CG reached out to CARE for the org's perspective on regional impacts at the intersection of gender, the environment, and fossil fuels. Read more…
Over two dozen wildfires have ravaged central and southern Chile in recent days, inflamed by a heat wave, strong winds, and what the Associated Press called a "yearslong drought." Reuters reported on January 21 that 20 people have been killed and that the death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts move forward. While firefighters and the military have worked to halt the flames and advance those efforts, communities and local governments have been distributing food, assembling temporary shelters, and restoring electricity where possible. The national response, according to Reuters, has been criticized by some residents and municipal officials as slow. Meanwhile, some of the gendered impacts may unfold far into the future, with a growing body of research suggesting prenatal exposure to wildfire smoke may impact pregnant people, birth outcomes, and child health. Read more…
Starting this Friday and charged by an Arctic blast of air, a potentially historic winter storm is set to hit dozens of U.S. states, from the Plains across the South and into the Northeast, with heavy precipitation, strong winds, and frigid temperatures. With power outages, transportation disruptions, and business closures expected across multiple regions, abortion access expert Marisa Falcon is reflecting on the impacts of a major winter storm in 2021 — and pointing to some unique remedies for today. Read more…
This week, The Advocate published a piece looking at how — and why — LGBTQ+ individuals are fighting to protect the planet. In addition to spotlighting the solace nature may offer marginalized communities — "The natural world has never been discriminatory to me," biologist Shannon "SJ" Joslin told the outlet — The Advocate also pointed to a 2023 publication in Sociological Inquiry, which argued that LGBTQ+ people may be more likely to fight the climate crisis because it poses disproportionate threats to their lives and community. CG asked Queers x Climate founder Diego de Leon Segovia for his take on these threats and what can be done to address them. Read more…
One goal at Climate, Gendered is to bring a spotlight to the reality that proliferating pollution, increasing temperatures, rising seas, extreme weather, habitat loss, and more can uniquely and disproportionately impact girls, women, trans communities, and non-binary people — especially those from communities of color, Indigenous people, disabled people, immigrants and displaced people, people experiencing poverty, and residents of low- and middle-income countries. We're also interested in the climate crises and concerns that can disproportionately affect men and boys.
This work cannot be done alone or in silos. We welcome with gratitude your feedback and observations. And please feel encouraged to share one way you noticed this week that climate and gender connect — and share CG with a friend.
