Catastrophic effects of climate change on children’s health start before birth
Susan E. Pacheco
Abstract
When I first paid attention to the magnitude of the climate crisis in 2006, it was hard to accept that I had been indifferent to the problem for so many years. As a pediatrician, it did not take long to realize that children, whose bodies and minds are still developing and who are dependent on adults for care, are the most tragic casualties of the climate crisis. The shift in weather patterns, increased heat, heat waves, and drought; the resulting wildfires, increased storm intensity and flooding, crop failure and lower nutritional value, and shifting pattern of infectious vectors; and the resulting air pollution from continued use of fossil fuels impose a heavy burden in children, whose inherent physical and emotional immaturity makes them more vulnerable to these insults.