Climate change threatens children's health: Study links extreme temperatures to preterm births
extreme temperatures driven by climate change will increase risk of preterm birth by 60 per cent, causing several lifelong complications for millions of children around the world, a new research has found. Analysing results from 163 health studies globally, researchers said they have determined that climate change will be directly responsible for multiple detrimental health impacts in children, including higher occurrences of respiratory illnesses and more hospitalisations.
The researchers, led by those at The University of Western Australia, warned that lack of global action on climate change will likely devastate children's health for generations.
They said their study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, was the first to collect all the available scientific evidence for the effects of climate change on children's health.
The team also said they have distinguished which particular climate-driven extremes were linked to what kind of health impacts in future generations.
«The children's health issues we identified depend on weather extremes — cold extremes give rise to respiratory diseases, while drought and extreme rainfall can result in stunted growth for a population,» said study author Corey Bradshaw from Flinders University, Australia.
The team said that most of the studies they analysed were in high-income nations, despite the fact that children in lower-income countries are most likely to go without adequate access to healthcare, infrastructure, and stable food supply.
Their study
