More Attention and Actions Are Needed to Protect Young Children During Periods of Extreme Heat
In many parts of the world right now, it’s hot. The world’s hottest day in recorded history was on July 22, 2024. This occurred after 2023 was recorded as having the highest global temperatures in over 100,000 years. It’s also more frequently hot. Many children are experiencing “high heat wave frequency,” which is 4.5 or more heat waves per year. While exposure to higher temperatures is widespread, the impact is not evenly distributed and amplifies existing systemic inequities. Much more needs to be done to protect young children and families from this growing threat to their development and well-being.
The timing of when we are exposed to extreme heat matters. During the prenatal period and first few years of life we are more sensitive to both the positive and negative conditions in the environment. The Center’s Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment describes how, during these sensitive periods, heat has invisible and especially powerful effects on the developing brain and body. Extreme heat impacts fetal development, learning, sleep, and mental and behavioral health, each with implications across the lifespan. Addressing experiences of extreme heat, therefore, is an important means of protecting the developing child and supporting their families.
Around the world, many people are trying to find ways to mitigate and adapt to increasing temperatures. However, pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood present distinct design needs that must be considered. We believe increased action today can support children now and into the future.
Climate action plans
Climate action plans signal how a community is going to prioritize and organize its mitigation and adaptation efforts, including its responses to extreme temperatures. Pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood need to be named directly in these documents so that implementation plans are built with the unique needs of these developmental phases considered and related funding made available. This contrasts with the current landscape, where young children are mostly absent from these plans. A recent review of national adaptation policies on climate change across 160 countries found a substantial gap in addressing child health issues. A similar review of climate action plans of the 40 most populous US cities also found that early childhood was often not included in the strategies ratified by the plans. Addressing the needs of young children in climate action planning is an essential step forward.
For additional resources see:
From Most Vulnerable to Most Valuable: A Scoping Study to Put Young Children at the Heart of Climate Actions and Environmental Protection from the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood
The U.S. Early Years Climate Action Plan from the US Early Years Taskforce.
Cities Connecting Children to Nature from National League of Cities and Children & Nature Network
Community-Driven Climate Resilience Planning: A Framework by the National Association of Climate Resilience Planners
Programs serving children and families
Excessive heat is increasingly disrupting the quality and continuity of programs serving children and families. Too many early childhood programs have been forced to close or discontinue outdoor play during heatwaves. Technical and financial resources are needed to support programs to become heat-resilient, increase shade and introduce more natural elements. Teachers need support to respond to the needs of both children and families facing environmental disruptions and concerns about the changing climate. Early childhood programs also have a vital role in communities’ plans to prepare for and respond to emergencies. They need essential supports to ensure they can make this happen.
For ideas see:
Planning for Resilient Early Care and Education: Addressing Climate Vulnerabilities by the Low Income Investment Fund and the Center for Cities + Schools
Outdoor Learning in Hot Weather by Early Childhood Health Outdoors
Build awareness and sense of urgency to act
More awareness is needed about how extreme heat affects development when experienced during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood. The narrative is starting to shift—when extreme heat is discussed, the unique needs of young children are becoming more apparent. However, much more understanding about this topic will help build a collective sense of urgency to act.
To learn more:
United Nations Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat
World Health Organization (WHO) Fact Sheets on Climate Change, Heat, and Health
Climate Change and Children’s Health and Well-Being in the United States Report by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
Heat waves and how they impact children by the Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative
Extreme Heat Resilience at the Adrienne Arsht Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center
Extreme Heat Affects Early Childhood Development: A discussion on rising temperatures and strategies for supporting development and lifelong health from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Most Families Are Worried About Environmental Issues, Have Experienced Extreme Weather from the RAPID project at the Stanford Center on Early Childhood
Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit by Americares and Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
When it comes to children, we all have a responsibility to ensure they have supportive, healthy environments. With actionable solutions increasingly available and many communities leading the way, we all need to address rising temperatures in the places where young children are developing.
About the Authors
Joan Lombardi, PhD, is Senior Fellow, Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues at Georgetown University and Senior Advisor at the Stanford Center on Early Childhood. To read her blog and find more resources focused on the impact of climate change on children, go to: https://www.earlyopportunities.org/environment-climate.
Corey Zimmerman, EdM, is Deputy Director and Chief Engagement and Partnerships Officer at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
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1.“Earth broke all-time heat record two days in a row, scientists say.” Washington Post. 7/24/2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/07/23/hottest-day-ever-recorded-climate-change/.; https://pulse.climate.copernicus.eu/
2. The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms. Lancet 2023; 402: 2346–94 Published Online November 14, 2023 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01859-7
3. United Nations Children’s Fund, The Coldest Year of the Rest of their Lives: Protecting children from the escalating impacts of heatwaves, UNICEF, New York, October 2022.
4. Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment. (2023). Extreme Heat Affects Early Childhood Development and Health: Working Paper No. 1. Retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu
5. Zangerl, K. E et al. Child health prioritization in national adaptation policies on child change: a policy document analysis across 160 countries. Published The Lancet online June 4, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38848733/
6. Education Uncapped the Potential of the Education Sector in City Climate Action Planning. This is Planet Ed. 2023. https://www.thisisplaneted.org/resources/education-uncapped-the-potential-of-the-education-sector-in-city-climate-action-planning
This blog post originally appeared on Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child blog.