Why Latino people are on the front lines of climate change

Most people in Puerto Rico don't have electricity or water a week after the storm. Five years after Hurricane Maria destroyed much of the territory's infrastructure, the damage shows how vulnerable the island's residents are.

Latino people in the US often live on the front lines of global warming, and Puerto Rico's vulnerability to storms is an example. Latino people are more concerned about climate change than non-Latino people, according to multiple polls.

Michael Méndez, who studies climate policy and environmental justice at the University of California Irvine, says Latino communities from Texas to Puerto Rico are the hardest hit by disasters caused by climate change. They have a connection to our changing climate.

Latino communities are more likely to face climate-driven extreme weather

The Environmental Protection Agency says that Hispanics are more likely to experience heat waves, hurricanes, sea level rise and floods.

As the Earth gets hotter, that risk will only increase. According to the EPA, Hispanic and Latino people are more likely to live in places where it's too hot to work a full day.

Millions of Latinos have jobs that require them to be outside in hotter weather.

"For example, agricultural workers, first responders, construction workers, landscape workers," says Juan Declet-Barreto, who studies the effects of climate change. Workers are being exposed to dangerous heat levels due to the changing climate.

According to the news from Puerto Rico, Latinos live in the path of hurricanes from Texas to the east coast. The Earth is getting hotter and storms are getting worse.

Latino's have a long history of activism against pollution. There is push for fair emissions reduction policies in California. Many people in Puerto Rico have been calling for a more reliable electrical grid since Hurricane Maria hit.

Latino people are more concerned about the effects of climate change than other people in the U.S. according to a survey.

"Latinos know that climate change is a big problem and they are aware of it," Declet-Barreto said. There is a perception that Latino's care more about the economy, jobs or immigration policies than the environment. That is not correct.