Extreme heat puts children’s flourishing at risk.
Photo by Jeremy Zero on Unsplash
by Joe Waters
NASA confirmed recently that 2020 tied with 2016 as the hottest on record. Last year saw a record 100 degree day in Siberia, multiple fires in California and Australia, droughts from East Africa to the Western United States, and more. This is an ill omen for our planet, with an extremely pronounced human toll--especially for our children.
Despite some progress, the world has done poorly in meeting targets for emissions reduction set by the Paris climate agreement, which established a goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. As a result, we are likely to continue experiencing significant global warming and tragic heat events. The world must make steeper cuts to emissions in order to meet the Paris goals and slow down the warming of the planet.
Kim Stanley Robinson’s best-selling Ministry for the Future dramatizes the future possibilities of heat-related illness, death, and social disorder. In the novel, India’s realistic experience of a heat wave results in the death of millions and prompts the government to undertake mitigation efforts to prevent a future crisis without multilateral consultation. Meanwhile, a terrorist organization emerges to take revenge on the first-world polluters responsible for the heat-related deaths. Robinson describes one particularly miserable experience, as characters fruitlessly seek relief by immersing themselves in a nearby lake:
People were dying faster than ever. There was no coolness to be had. All the children were dead, all the old people were dead. People murmured what should have been screams of grief; those who could still move shoved bodies out of the lake, or out toward the middle where they floated like logs, or sank.
Frank shut his eyes and tried not to listen to the voices around him. He was fully immersed in the shallows, and could rest his head back against the concrete edge of the walkway and the mud just under it. Sink himself until he was stuck in mud and only half his head exposed to the burning air.
While this is an episode from a novel, it is by no means hyperbolic given the current trajectory of our planet.
While Paris focuses our attention on the future and on generations to come, the risks from extreme heat are experienced now, and by some of the world’s most vulnerable people, particularly children and especially those living in the Global South.
It should come as no surprise that children, with their unique vulnerabilities and developing bodies, are especially susceptible to health risks from extreme heat. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children are more at risk of negative health outcomes from temperature extremes. Dehydration is the most common negative health effect in young children, but extreme heat can also lead to heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and cramps. These effects will likely also drive more children to play less outside, which may raise obesity rates and harm mental health. As our planet continues to warm and there are fewer and fewer places to escape extreme heat, more children will experience these negative effects.
What can be done?
Our world is rapidly urbanizing and cities only exacerbate the problems of extreme heat. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will likely be living in urban areas, according to the United Nations. The “heat island effect” describes the phenomenon we have all likely experienced on a hot day in a crowded city: concrete, asphalt, and buildings absorb and then re-emit heat more than forests, bodies of water, and other natural features. According to the EPA, daytime temperatures in urban areas can run 1 to 7 degrees hotter than temperatures in less dense areas. To design our cities in ways that are both child friendly and resilient, we must undertake mitigation efforts focused on reducing heat. Green roofs, cool pavements, vegetation, and access to shade should be prioritized in design. We should be especially diligent about using these technologies in places where children congregate. For example, when we build a child care center or a school, we should use cool pavement technologies in outdoor areas, both as a further expression of our concern for our children’s future and to cool the areas around the places where children gather.
While our world is, in fact, rapidly urbanizing, we cannot neglect the needs of those who live in rural areas and also experience negative impacts resulting from extreme heat. Despite the urbanization trend, some 3 billion people are still expected to live in rural areas by 2050. Rural areas have higher mortality risks associated with extreme temperature, which is due, in part, rural-urban gaps in health care. Prioritizing equitable access to health care in rural communities will help improve their resilience to rising temperatures.
We must link our caregiving plans with our efforts to curb the effects of climate change. In the United States, President Biden has proposed $40 billion in pandemic-related emergency rescue funding for child care and Rep. Katherine Clark has introduced the bold Child Care is Infrastructure Act to invest in child care facilities; additional initiatives are expected during the Biden Administration. These plans present an opportunity to simultaneously address dual crises and build a better, more sustainable future for our children. Our investments in our care infrastructure should be green investments, both to protect the immediate health and well-being of our children and those who care for them and to make a contribution to mitigating the effects of extreme temperature. For example, federal funds should only support building new child care facilities if they meet benchmarks for mitigating heat, contribute to equitable access to shade, and use green roofing and cool pavement technology.
Extreme heat is an urgent global risk to our children’s health, well-being, and overall flourishing. Exercising responsibility for our children’s future means that we must work globally to slow emissions. Responsibility for our children’s present requires us to take immediate action to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat that we experienced in 2020 and will continue to experience in 2021 and beyond.
Joe Waters is the Co-Founder + CEO of Capita.