ABSTRACT
Certain sectors of the economy will be especially hard hit by the impacts of climate change. The U.S. National Climate Assessment (Melililo et al. 2014, 11) lists agriculture, water, health, energy, transportation, forests and ecosystems as especially vulnerable. So, too, certain human sectors of society are significantly more vulnerable than others. Most sources highlight that people of color, indigenous communities, children, the elderly, the disabled and ill, and the poor are front-line communities seriously threatened by current and impending climate impacts (Pellow and Brehm 2013; Melililo et al. 2014; Harlan et al. 2015). Additionally, these populations are the most disadvantaged when it comes to income, wealth, health, personal security, political power, educational and occupational achievement (Harlan et al. 2015), and climate and environmental change portends widespread environmental injustices (Caniglia et al. 2014).
