Climate change takes a toll on Seattleites' mental health

[cbabe]

https://crosscut.com/environment/2022/06/climate-change-takes-toll-seattleites-mental-health

Some residents are experiencing a new kind of distress in response to flooding, air pollution and other ecological events linked to climate change.

by Ashli Blow / June 6, 2022

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The flood-prone, polluted waterway is a federally designated Superfund site resulting from the toxic chemicals left by industry along the river’s shores. Today, the Duwamish River faces yet another threat that not only causes more environmental harm but also brings climate stress and grief to the people who live nearby.

Some South Park residents are already familiar with that environmental grief. For them, climate stress manifests in the embarrassment, frustration and anxiety they feel when wastewater floods back into their homes during high tides and heavy rains.

The city of Seattle projects 2 to 4 feet of sea level rise by 2100 in South Park between Marginal Way and the river. Nearly 300 properties, including homes, businesses, and parks, are within that area. This means that increased water levels brought by winter storm surges and high tides that usually happen once a year will become monthly occurences, according to Seattle Public Utilities’ 2019 resiliency assessment.
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My neighbors who are low-income, people of color and immigrants, they are left to clean it up,” said Schwartz, who leads the Duwamish River Community Coalition’s development and advocacy program. “Climate change is becoming more and more of an issue with heavier rainfalls and way more flooding events the last few years. It’s absolutely chronic.”
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…more… long read…

Note: Chief Seattle was Duwamish. The Duwamish tribe is still fighting for federal recognition. Invisible tribe, invisible neighborhood.