US Climate and Health Alliance

Climate change and children’s health

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To present the latest data that demonstrate how climate change affects children’s health and to identify the principal ways in which climate change puts children’s health at risk. RECENT FINDINGS: Data continue to emerge that further implicate climate change as contributing to health burdens in children. Climate models have become even more sophisticated and consistently forecast that greenhouse gas emissions will lead to higher mean temperatures that promote more intense storms and droughts, both of which have profound implications for child health. Recent climate models shed light upon the spread of vector-borne disease, including Lyme disease in North America and malaria in Africa. Modeling studies have found that conditions conducive to forest fires, which generate harmful air pollutants and damage agriculture, are likely to become more prevalent in this century due to the effects of greenhouse gases added to earth’s atmosphere. SUMMARY: Through many pathways, and in particular via placing additional stress upon the availability of food, clean air, and clean water and by potentially expanding the burden of disease from certain vector-borne diseases, climate change represents a major threat to child health. Pediatricians have already seen and will increasingly see the adverse health effects of climate change in their practices. Because of this, and many other reasons, pediatricians have a unique capacity to help resolve the climate change problem.

Resource Type
Peer-reviewed article
Authors
Aaron S. Bernstein Samuel S. Myers
Resource URL
http://journals.lww.com/co-pediatrics/Abstract/2011/04000/Climate_change_and_children_s_health.16.aspx
Publication
Current Opinion in Pediatrics
Journal Abbr.
Curr. Opin. Pediatr.
Volume
23
Issue
2
Pages
221-226
Date
Apr 2011
DOI
10.1097/MOP.0b013e3283444c89
ISSN
1531-698X
Organization Type
Academic
Health and Human Impact
Overview/general
Other
Vulnerable populations

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