Health

Top Stories of 2019: Climate and Our Kids' Health

In 2019 one of the most jarring stories we covered was about how much climate change is affecting the health of our children. The Lancet's startling conclusion was that a child born today will experience a world that is more than 4˚C warmer by the time they turn 71 years old, which will threaten their health at every stage of their life.

According to Nick Watts, executive director of the Lancet’s Countdown,“We have no ideawhat that looks like from a public health perspective, but we know it is catastrophic.We know that it has the potential to undermine the last 50 years of gains in public health and overwhelm the health systems we rely on.”

Additionally, according to another recent study published in Nature Climate Change, rising temperatures may have a direct impact on human gestational time, increasing the risk of early delivery.

These studies are in line with existing data that tells us our addiction to fossil fuels is deadly for children and their developing lungs.

Why This Matters: A warming planet is affecting the most vulnerable members of our society and putting their health in jeopardy in ways that we're only beginning to understand. If that isn't a wakeup call for drastic climate action in 2020 then what is?

We need to talk about this more and ensure that every lawmaker in office or running for office is serious about addressing climate change. While not everyone lives in places where hurricanes or wildfires occur, everyone knows a child and many people are parents. We have to do better for the next generation and 2020 will give us an opportunity to do so by making climate change a top voting priority.