Atmosphere Journal Entry
Atmosphere Journal Entry
Climate Change Hits Children Hardest (January 28, 2008)
Children suffer the most from climate change. This Ethiopian boy has malaria, a disease spread by infected mosquitoes. Hot and wet weather increases mosquito populations. World Health Organization.
Although it's a problem for all of Earth's inhabitants, climate change hits children the hardest. That's the troubling conclusion of a report presented recently at the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Children are more at-risk to injury or disease from extreme weather events. A global increase in violent storms, heat waves, and floods has been linked to global warming. Children are less equipped to deal with these disasters, which are frequently life-threatening.
Because their immune systems are less fully developed, children are also at greater risk to global-warming related diseases. Floods can spread waterborne diseases such as cholera that mainly hit children. Hot and wet conditions help spread mosquitoes that carry diseases such as malaria or dengue fever.
Greenhouse gases aren't the only problem caused by emissions from industry. Industrial pollution triggers childhood respiratory diseases such as asthma. Rising temperatures increase the number of forest fires, adding even more harmful pollution to the air.
In some parts of the world, drought is getting worse as weather patterns change. This often leads to food and water shortages. Once again, children are the biggest victims. They suffer the most from malnutrition.
