More than one in ten Latinos in the U.S. have had to relocate over the past year as a result of pollution or contamination of their environment, a new poll by Gallup found.
Concretely, 8% of respondents from the demographic said they had to do so temporarily, while an additional 4% left permanently.
The figure is higher than the average for all U.S. adults (9% overall) and Whites (7%), but lower than Blacks, 9% of whom had to relocate temporarily and 5% permanently.
The poll also analyzed overall concerns with different types of pollution in respondents' communities. It found that Blacks were the most concerned demographic, followed by Latinos. Whites were the least concerned.
More than half of Blacks (53%) said it was the case for them when asked about air pollution, compared to 46% of Latinos and 35% of Whites.
Latinos were disproportionately concerned in all categories, which also included toxic building materials, land/soil contamination and drinking water contamination.
Racial differences not only have to do with geographical distribution and minorities being more likely to live in urban areas (which have a highest proportion of concerned people).
" While concerns about exposure to environmental pollution and contamination are similar by race/ethnicity among Americans living in urban centers, they diverge among Americans of different racial/ethnic backgrounds living in towns, suburbs and rural areas," reads a passage of the study.
While a majority of all racial/ethnic groups in urban communities are fairly or very concerned about exposure to air pollution, this is also the case for many more Blacks (54%) and Latinos (49%) than Whites (33%) in rural areas.
In both rural and urban areas, Latinos were the most concerned demographic about air pollution. They were second behind Blacks in towns and suburbs.
"Similar patterns are evident for perceptions of drinking water contamination, land and soil contamination, and exposure to toxic building materials," Gallup added.
In another passage of the survey, almost 30% of Latinos said they experienced one or more acute environmental crises, including water boil advisories, chemical spills, radiation leaks and failed residence safety inspections. 34% of Black respondents and 28% of Whites gave the same answers.
Water boil advisories are the most common pollution crisis experienced by Americans in the past five years, reported by 28% of Black Americans and 23% of both Hispanic and White Americans.
The poll comes as the effects of climate change become apparent in many different aspects of Americans' daily lives and a few days after the UN's climate chief said that humanity has two years to "save the world."
Simon Stiell said that governments need to make dramatic policy changes and allocate the money to implement them as they face a 2025 deadline to present updated plans to tackle carbon emissions.
"We still have a chance to make greenhouse gas emissions tumble, with a new generation of national climate plans. But we need these stronger plans, now," said Stiell, according to a report by The Associated Press.
Last week, Europe's climate monitor said that 2024's was the hottest March on record and the tenth straight month of historic heat, with sea surface temperatures also hitting a "shocking" new high.
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