Global Climate Change and Children’s Health

Abstract

Rising global temperatures are causing major physical, chemical, and ecological changes in the planet. There is wide consensus among scientific organizations and climatologists that these broad effects, known as “climate change,” are the result of contemporary human activity. Climate change poses threats to human health, safety, and security, and children are uniquely vulnerable to these threats. The effects of climate change on child health include: physical and psychological sequelae of weather disasters; increased heat stress; decreased air quality; altered disease patterns of some climate-sensitive infections; and food, water, and nutrient insecurity in vulnerable regions. The social foundations of children’s mental and physical health are threatened by the specter of far-reaching effects of unchecked climate change, including community and global instability, mass migrations, and increased conflict. Given this knowledge, failure to take prompt, substantive action would be an act of injustice to all children. A paradigm shift in production and consumption of energy is both a necessity and an opportunity for major innovation, job creation, and significant, immediate associated health benefits. Pediatricians have a uniquely valuable role to play in the societal response to this global challenge.

The Mission of Early Childhood Education in the Anthropocene

“…As a group, children in particular will suffer from climate change. They are both physically and psychologically vulnerable to abnormal weather disasters that will cause food, water, and nutrient insecurity in vulnerable regions [25,26]. Children are also inherently more sensitive than adults to sudden weather changes, since they cannot adapt to rainstorms, snowstorms, heat waves, and other extreme climate-related exposures the same way that adults do [25].…”

Climate change and dermatology: An introduction to a special topic, for this special issue

“…( Schachtel and Boos, 2019 ) Children’s full dependency on adult caregivers compounds the challenges inherent in avoiding deleterious environmental surroundings; this is mirrored in the geriatric population. ( Ahdoot and Pacheco, 2015 ) The elderly are also at elevated risk for contracting dermatologic disease due to the natural weakening of the immune system with age, which includes reduced resiliency and functionality of the skin’s cutaneous barrier. ( Humbert et al, 2016 ); ( Quan and Fisher, 2015 )…”

Climate change and human health in Montana: a special report of the Montana Climate Assessment

“…People with preexisting mental illness are at increased risk following weatherrelated events (Trombley et al 2017), as are youth (Paulson et al 2015;Orengo-Aguayo et al 2019). Likewise, climate "surprises" (see Section 2) such as flooding (Lamond et al 2015), wildfires, or storms have been shown to impact mental health.…”