Jump to content

Climate change and children

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A child at a climate demonstration in Juneau, Alaska

Children are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than adults. The World Health Organization estimated that 88% of the existing global burden of disease caused by climate change affects children under five years of age.[1] A Lancet review on health and climate change lists children as the worst-affected category by climate change.[2] Children under 14 are 44 percent more likely to die from environmental factors,[3] and those in urban areas are disproportionately impacted by lower air quality and overcrowding.[4]

Children are physically more vulnerable to climate change in all its forms.[5] Climate change affects the physical health of children and their well-being. Prevailing inequalities, between and within countries, determine how climate change impacts children.[6] Children often have no voice in terms of global responses to climate change.[5]

People living in low-income countries experience a higher burden of disease and are less capable of coping with climate change-related threats.[7] Nearly every child in the world is at risk from climate change and pollution, while almost half are at extreme risk.[8]

Impacts of climate change on children

[edit]
Climate-related famine refugees in the Horn of Africa

Climate change impacts children's futures as well as their present. Children do not have the ability to control their environment and are disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change. Climate change-related disasters have impacted children in recent years, particularly children from poor communities. Children are experiencing diseases, flooding, pollution and water scarcity all due to climate change, particularly in countries of the global South.[9]

Unstable climate conditions created by the use of fossil fuels, deforestation and agriculture decrease access to clean water and food, and destroy secure living environments. Consequently, these systems lead to malnutrition, migration, and poor health, which leaves youth particularly vulnerable.[10] Children are more biologically and psychologically susceptible to these conditions compared to adults due to their ongoing developmental growth. Their systems for detoxification, temperature regulation, and immune responses, and their inability to care for themselves leave them far more impacted than adults. Their underdeveloped respiratory systems are at an increased risk from the pollution caused by fossil fuels.[11]

Children's mental health is greatly impacted by the effects of global climate change. Displacement caused by natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes and fires has a negative impact of the mental health conditions of children. 71% of middle school-aged children and 50% of preschool-aged children that experienced Hurricane Katrina experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The World Health Organization has estimated that children under five years of age carry the burden of 88% of global climate change.[12]

Children are affected by the destruction of homes, threats to food security, and loss of family livelihoods brought about by climate change. The effects on children may be exacerbated by social and economic inequality, armed conflict, and health epidemics.[13] Climate change effects fall under two main dimensions: direct or indirect, instant or postponed. The effects on the child's physical health include death and injuries, heat diseases, exposure to environmental toxins, infections, and other illnesses present within warmer temperatures.[14]

Disasters caused by extreme weather result in a significant increase in mental health and learning issues in children, such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, cognitive deficits, and learning difficulties.[15] Given this example about the post flood period in Pakistan in 2010, 73% of 10- to 19-year-olds displayed high levels of PTSD, where displaced girls were severely impacted.[16]

Other severe occurrences that were detected were distress, grief, and anger; loss of identity; feelings of helplessness and hopelessness; higher rates of suicide; and increased aggression and violence.[17]

Adding to the physical effects, there are the psychological and mental health influences that are threatening to a child's wellbeing.[18]

Health and wellbeing

[edit]
Part of a series on
Climate change and
society
Effects · Risk
Economics · Finance
Social issues · Ethics
Communication
Politics

Climate change may affect children's health more directly than adults since children's organs and immune systems are still developing and they eat and drink more for their weight. Children's lungs are also more easily damaged by air pollutants since children breathe at a faster rate.[19] Children also face increased risk of pregnancy complications, allergies and asthma, and developmental delays, as well as waterborne diseases.[19]

Children today face three times more wildfires, storms, floods, and droughts than experienced by their grandparents.[19] Extreme events caused by climate change can destroy homes, schools, child-care centers, and other critical infrastructure.[20] Typhoon Haian flattened entire cities and towns on the islands of Leyte and Samar, Philippines. Many child survivors of Typhoon Haian lost their homes and belongings.[21] In 2020, Typhoon Molave caused floods and landslides that destroyed homes, placing an estimated 2.5 million children in Vietnam at risk. It killed nine and displaced more than one million individuals in Vietnam and the Philippines.[22]

Climate events have caused severe damage to lives and livelihoods.[13] Typhoons, storm surges, and other disturbances have resulted in the loss of assets and capital and declines in family income among farmers, fishers, informal sector workers, and small business owners.[23] Families with more children are more vulnerable to catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenses.[23] After Typhoon Parma hit the Philippines, there was a rise in school dropout rates resulting from the loss of family incomes. Children who continued with school sometimes had to go to class without allowances to buy food.[23] In rural areas, fields, gardens, fishponds, crops, fishing boats, and farming equipment have been destroyed, while livestock have been lost, affecting food security for entire communities.[23]

Environmental impact

[edit]
Indian Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave with the children at a workshop to make religious idols from soil

Children are vulnerable to the lack of basic natural resources that can be caused by natural phenomena like droughts and flooding. Significantly, around 160 million children live within extremely high drought regions and over 500 million inhabit areas with extremely high frequencies of flooding.[24] Natural disasters also lead to displacement of families and children. Extreme weather events may also increase rates of physical and mental health insecurities.[25][26]

On the global level, children are estimated to tolerate 88% of the burden of disease because of climate change. The burden is exacerbated within underprivileged areas already suffering from environmental challenges. These areas see higher rates of various diseases, disabilities, and a higher mortality rate among children.[27] In 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessed that the global temperatures will likely increase by 4.8 °C by 2100 if the current emissions continue to rise.[28] Constant exposure to air pollutants affects birth weights, and leads to a small size for gestational age (SGA), and preterm birth cases.[29] Children exposed to air pollution (ozone, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, or nitrogen dioxide) tend to suffer from asthma[30] resulting an increase airway oxidative stress and airway inflammation in asthmatic children[31] Air pollution also affects children's neurodevelopment. A comparison of children born before and after the closure of a local coal power plant, found that the children born after the closure had significantly lower cord blood levels of PAH–DNA adducts and higher levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein needed in early brain development.[32]

Climate change action by children

[edit]

School Strike for Climate

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Fridays for Future.[edit]
Maximum number of school strikers per country:
  1000 
  1000+ 
  10000+ 
  100000+ 
  1000000+


Fridays for Future (FFF), also known as the School strike for climate (Swedish: Skolstrejk för klimatet), is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand action from political leaders to prevent climate change and for the fossil fuel industry to transition to renewable energy.

Publicity and widespread organising began after Swedish pupil Greta Thunberg staged a protest in August 2018 outside of the Swedish Riksdag (parliament), holding a sign that read "Skolstrejk för klimatet" ("School strike for climate").[33][34]

A global strike on 15 March 2019 gathered more than one million strikers in 2,200 strikes organised in 125 countries.[35][36][37][38] On 24 May 2019, in the second global strike, 1,600 protests across 150 countries drew hundreds of thousands of strikers. The May protests were timed to coincide with the 2019 European Parliament election.[37][39][40][41]

The 2019 Global Week for Future was a series of 4,500 strikes across over 150 countries, focused around Friday 20 September and Friday 27 September. Likely the largest climate strikes in world history, the 20 September strikes gathered roughly 4 million protesters, many of them schoolchildren, including 1.4 million in Germany.[42] On 27 September, an estimated two million people participated in demonstrations worldwide, including over one million protesters in Italy and several hundred thousand protesters in Canada.[43][44][45]
[edit]
Further information: Climate change litigation

Juliana v. United States was dismissed in 2020 on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue, but a new case has been launched on narrower grounds.[46] In the case Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and Others brought by children and young adults, the European Court of Human Rights asked 33 states to respond by May 2021 with information on how they are trying to limit climate change.[47]

Arts-based educational approaches

[edit]
Children following a class in body art

Many schools have integrated climate change within their curriculums.[48] Children who learn about the existence and urgency of global environmental problems, become more aware of and engaged in improving the world's environmental status.[49]

Global initiatives

[edit]

A number of global initiatives and projects had been launched to address the impact and challenges of climate change on children.

Global efforts towards climate change action
Title Organization(s) Type Year
Global Initiative to Advance Children's

Right to a Healthy Environment

United Nations Initiative 2019–2021
Goal of NCCAP Kenya's National Climate Change Action Plan Action plan 2018–2022
Small Grants Programme (SGP) UNDP, Global Environmental Facility Grants and projects 2015
Climate Sensitive Humanitarian Assistance UNICEF Initiative 2015
United Nations Joint Framework Initiative on Children, Youth and Climate Change United Nations Framework initiative 2013
NASA's Climate Kids NASA Website 2010
Protecting children's health in a changing environment World Health Organization Report 2010
Climate change: Take action now UNICEF, World YWCA, girls worldwide say, FAO,

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,

World Organization of the Scout Movement, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

Initiative 2003

Youth activists on climate change

[edit]
Climate activist Xiye Bastida

Youth activism plays a role in reducing the impact of global climate change on children.[50]

Over 4,500 children and young people have participated in annual United Nations Environment Programme Tunza International Conferences since 2004. Children that represent over 100 countries and have covered a multitude of issues concerning climate change, including green jobs and a green economy.[51] Involving youth in conversations around the climate adds a level of diversity and a shared understanding of how climate change affects different communities and age groups.[52]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Anderko, Laura; Chalupka, Stephanie; Du, Maritha; Hauptman, Marissa (January 2020). "Climate changes reproductive and children's health: a review of risks, exposures, and impacts". Pediatric Research. 87 (2): 414–419. doi:10.1038/s41390-019-0654-7. ISSN 1530-0447. PMID 31731287.
  2. ^ Watts, Nick; Amann, Markus; Arnell, Nigel; Ayeb-Karlsson, Sonja; Belesova, Kristine; Boykoff, Maxwell; Byass, Peter; Cai, Wenjia; Campbell-Lendrum, Diarmid; Capstick, Stuart; Chambers, Jonathan (16 November 2019). "The 2019 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: ensuring that the health of a child born today is not defined by a changing climate". Lancet. 394 (10211): 1836–1878. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32596-6. hdl:10871/40583. ISSN 1474-547X. PMID 31733928. S2CID 207976337. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  3. ^ Bartlett, Sheridan (2008). "Climate change and urban children: Impacts and implications for adaptation in low- and middle-income countries". Environment and Urbanization. 20 (2): 501–519. Bibcode:2008EnUrb..20..501B. doi:10.1177/0956247808096125. S2CID 55860349.
  4. ^ "WHO | The global burden of disease: 2004 update". WHO. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009.
  5. ^ a b Currie, Janet; Deschênes, Olivier (2016). "Children and Climate Change: Introducing the Issue". The Future of Children. 26 (1): 3–9. doi:10.1353/foc.2016.0000. ISSN 1054-8289. JSTOR 43755227. S2CID 77559783. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  6. ^ Helldén, Daniel; Andersson, Camilla; Nilsson, Maria; Ebi, Kristie L.; Friberg, Peter; Alfvén, Tobias (1 March 2021). "Climate change and child health: a scoping review and an expanded conceptual framework". The Lancet Planetary Health. 5 (3): e164–e175. doi:10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30274-6. ISSN 2542-5196. PMID 33713617.
  7. ^ "Unless we act now: The impact of climate change on children". www.unicef.org. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  8. ^ Carrington, Damian (20 August 2021). "A billion children at 'extreme risk' from climate impacts – Unicef". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Climate Change Mainly Impacting Vulnerable Children". Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Youth and Climate Change" (PDF). UN.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  11. ^ Salas, Renee N.; Jacobs, Wendy; Perera, Frederica (30 May 2019). "The Case of Juliana v. U.S. — Children and the Health Burdens of Climate Change". New England Journal of Medicine. 380 (22): 2085–2087. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1905504. PMID 31141628. S2CID 205115062.
  12. ^ Salas, R. N.; Jacobs, W.; Perera, F. (2019). "Children and the Health Burdens of Climate Change". The New England Journal of Medicine. 380 (22): 2085–2087. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1905504. PMID 31141628. S2CID 205115062.
  13. ^ a b "UNICEF Concerned About Situation Of Children Affected By Typhoons In The Philippines". UNICEF USA. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  14. ^ Sheffield, Perry E.; Landrigan, Philip J. (March 2011). "Global climate change and children's health: threats and strategies for prevention". Environmental Health Perspectives. 119 (3): 291–298. doi:10.1289/ehp.1002233. ISSN 1552-9924. PMC 3059989. PMID 20947468.
  15. ^ Garcia, Daniel Martinez; Sheehan, Mary C. (2016). "Extreme Weather-driven Disasters and Children's Health". International Journal of Health Services: Planning, Administration, Evaluation. 46 (1): 79–105. doi:10.1177/0020731415625254. ISSN 0020-7314. PMID 26721564. S2CID 44726684. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  16. ^ Boston, 677 Huntington Avenue; Ma 02115 +1495‑1000 (1 July 2014). "Climate Change, Children's Rights, and the Pursuit of Intergenerational Climate Justice". Health and Human Rights. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "Mental health and our changing climate: Impacts, implications, and guidance | PreventionWeb.net". www.preventionweb.net. 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  18. ^ Burke SEL; Sanson, A. V.; Van Hoorn, J. (2018). "Europe PMC". Current Psychiatry Reports. 20 (5): 35. doi:10.1007/s11920-018-0896-9. PMID 29637319. S2CID 4810030. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  19. ^ a b c "Climate Change & Children's Health". C-CHANGE | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 7 January 2019. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Effects of Climate Change on Future Generations". Save the Children. 21 June 2018. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Top 6 issues children are facing after Typhoon Haiyan". World Vision. 14 November 2013. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  22. ^ "Typhoon Molave, nine dead and over a million displaced between the Philippines and Vietnam". Asia News. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  23. ^ a b c d Porio, Emma (2011). "The Social Impacts of Tropical Storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng: The recovery of communities in communities in Metro Manila and Luzon". Ateneo de Manila University. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  24. ^ "Unless we act now: The impact of climate change on children". www.unicef.org. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  25. ^ Garcia, Daniel Martinez; Sheehan, Mary C. (1 January 2016). "Extreme Weather-driven Disasters and Children's Health". International Journal of Health Services. 46 (1): 79–105. doi:10.1177/0020731415625254. ISSN 0020-7314. PMID 26721564. S2CID 44726684. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  26. ^ "- CREATING A CLIMATE RESILIENT AMERICA: OVERCOMING THE HEALTH RISKS OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS". www.govinfo.gov. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  27. ^ Zhang, Ying; Bi, Peng; Hiller, Janet E. (October 2007). "Climate change and disability-adjusted life years". Journal of Environmental Health. 70 (3): 32–36. ISSN 0022-0892. PMID 17941401. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  28. ^ Collins, Matthew; Knutti, Reto; Arblaster, Julie; Dufresne, Jean-Louis; Fichefet, Thierry; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Gao, Xuejie; Gutowski, William J.; Johns, Tim; Krinner, Gerhard; Shongwe, Mxolisi (2013). "Long-term Climate Change: Projections, Commitments and Irreversibility". Climate Change 2013 – the Physical Science Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: 1029–1136. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  29. ^ Perera Frederica P. (1 February 2017). "Multiple Threats to Child Health from Fossil Fuel Combustion: Impacts of Air Pollution and Climate Change". Environmental Health Perspectives. 125 (2): 141–148. doi:10.1289/EHP299. PMC 5289912. PMID 27323709.
  30. ^ Tzivian, Lilian (June 2011). "Outdoor air pollution and asthma in children". The Journal of Asthma. 48 (5): 470–481. doi:10.3109/02770903.2011.570407. ISSN 1532-4303. PMID 21486196. S2CID 37549031. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  31. ^ Gasana, Janvier; Dillikar, Deepa; Mendy, Angelico; Forno, Erick; Ramos Vieira, Edgar (August 2012). "Motor vehicle air pollution and asthma in children: a meta-analysis". Environmental Research. 117: 36–45. Bibcode:2012ER....117...36G. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2012.05.001. ISSN 1096-0953. PMID 22683007. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  32. ^ Perera, Frederica; Li, Tin-yu; Zhou, Zhi-jun; Yuan, Tao; Chen, Yu-hui; Qu, Lirong; Rauh, Virginia A.; Zhang, Yiguan; Tang, Deliang (October 2008). "Benefits of Reducing Prenatal Exposure to Coal-Burning Pollutants to Children's Neurodevelopment in China". Environmental Health Perspectives. 116 (10): 1396–1400. doi:10.1289/ehp.11480. ISSN 0091-6765. PMC 2569101. PMID 18941584.
  33. ^ Crouch, David (1 September 2018). "The Swedish 15-year-old who's cutting class to fight the climate crisis". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  34. ^ Weyler, Rex (4 January 2019). "The youth have seen enough". Greenpeace International. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  35. ^ Carrington, Damian (19 March 2019). "School climate strikes: 1.4 million people took part, say campaigners". Archived from the original on 7 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  36. ^ Glenza, Jessica; Evans, Alan; Ellis-Petersen, Hannah; Zhou, Naaman (15 March 2019). "Climate strikes held around the world – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  37. ^ a b "Students walk out in global climate strike". BBC. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  38. ^ Barclay, Eliza (15 March 2019). "Photos: kids in 123 countries went on strike to protect the climate". Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  39. ^ "'We're one, we're back': Pupils renew world climate action strike". Al Jazeera. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  40. ^ Gerretsen, Isabelle (24 May 2019). "Global Climate Strike: Record number of students walk out". CNN. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  41. ^ Haynes, Suyin (24 May 2019). "Students From 1,600 Cities Just Walked Out of School to Protest Climate Change. It Could Be Greta Thunberg's Biggest Strike Yet". Time. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  42. ^ Largest climate strike: 4 million protesters overall: 1.4 million protesters in Germany:
  43. ^ Taylor, Matthew; Watts, Jonathan; Bartlett, John (27 September 2019). "Climate crisis: 6 million people join latest wave of global protests". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  44. ^ "Fridays for future, al via i cortei in 180 città italiane: 'Siamo più di un milione'" [Fridays for future, kids in the streets in 180 Italian cities: 'We're more than a million']. la Repubblica. 27 September 2019. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  45. ^ Murphy, Jessica (27 September 2019). "Hundreds of thousands join Canada climate strikes". BBC. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  46. ^ Budryk, Zack (7 April 2021). "Biden administration asks court to toss kids' climate lawsuit". The Hill. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  47. ^ Daly, Aoife; Leviner, Pernilla; Stern, Rebecca Thorburn (8 April 2021). "How children are taking European states to court over the climate crisis – and changing the law". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  48. ^ Trott, Carlie D (1 March 2019). "Reshaping our world: Collaborating with children for community-based climate change action". Action Research. 17 (1): 42–62. doi:10.1177/1476750319829209. ISSN 1476-7503.
  49. ^ Jensen, Bjarne Bruun; Schnack, Karsten (1 July 2006). "The action competence approach in environmental education". Environmental Education Research. 12 (3–4): 471–486. doi:10.1080/13504620600943053. ISSN 1350-4622. S2CID 144727028. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  50. ^ "We must not leave climate change for children to fix". Plan International. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  51. ^ "Youth and Climate Change" (PDF). UN.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  52. ^ Eide, Elisabeth; Kunelius, Risto (2021). "Voices of a generation the communicative power of youth activism". Climatic Change. 169 (1–2): 6. Bibcode:2021ClCh..169....6E. doi:10.1007/s10584-021-03211-z. PMC 8561677. PMID 34744220. S2CID 240358310.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Climate_change_and_children&oldid=1246475761"