Climate Change

2008-03-03T17:25:00.000-08:00

The decisions and actions of today not only affect our children and future generations directly but also the future costs to correct our poor decisions or lack of action--passed on to generations who follow us--will likely be huge. The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement, I believe, correctly states that the use of resources by the current generation in meeting a current need must ensure future generations can also fully meet their needs as well.

Children are especially vulnerable to changes brought by climate change:

--Increased extreme weather events--hurricanes, tornadoes, floods,droughts and heat events may well cause displacement from homes, emotional trauma and direct risk of life

--infants dying when left unattended in vehicles, as well as heat related risks to the elderly, are likely to increase--heat events: heat stroke, heat stress and death.

--increase in tick populations and length of season of risk, increase in risk of malaria and dengue fever--also other re-emerging diseases

--diarrheal illness is likely to increase with warming of climate: increasing food borne illness, salmonellosis, food poisoning, and increased risk of Cryptosporidium parvum contamination of water supplies

--air quality decrease with increased pollution and increased load of pollens like ragweed

----potential increased exposure to UV radiation--sunburn, skin cancer, skin aging, cataracts, melanoma

--impact on production of necessary food supplies and water supplies

--decline in insect and bird populations which pollinate or transport/disperse seed

--mental health stress on children

Climate Change and Children, Pediatric Clinics of N. America 2007

Ecology and Children

Climate Change