Today is Blog Action Day. Theme is climate change. Here are a few things to consider:

• Women die from natural disasters more. In the 2004 Tsunami, 80% of deaths were to women. In the 1991 Bangladesh cyclones, 90% of the 140,000 people who died were women. And in the aftermath of Katrina in 2005, African American women faced the most severe obstacles to survival.
• Women are 70-80% of the world’s farmers, and climate disturbances and drought are disastrous for them.
• Women in many developing countries spend three or more house a day fetching water: droughts intensify this effort.
• The impact of climate change is disproportionately affecting the world’s poor. Women are 70% of the world’s poor.

Think about this. The reason to care about climate change isn’t because it is gendered. Saying it is gendered isn’t a marketing gimmick to get you to care about the climate. But climate change is about the social world, and the social world is a place where men and women around the globe still have very different statuses and opportunities. The poverty aspect of it reminds us that climate change is a human problem.

And do this. Be a human being. Take action to reduce your carbon footprint. Take steps to raise awareness of the processes and impact of climate change–see this for more info. And let your members of Congress know that you want to see a strong version of the Kerry-Boxer Clean Energy Bill. (Here’s some optimism about it.)

And, your bonus round…here’s some info for raising awareness of the processes and impact of climate change. Barbara Sutton, a sociologist at University at Albany, SUNY, put together a fabulous list of sources — books, fact sheets, articles, organizations, websites — on gender and climate change. Check it out.

–Virginia Rutter