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Posted by Shirley Siluk Gregory Oct 31, 2007 |
The litany of bad news regarding the Earth's climate and environmental crises never seems to end, but one story in particular grabbed my attention this week. It was a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which warned that climate change is likely to create greater health risks for children than for adults.
The report explores a disturbing range of potential threats to children's health. The increased risk of natural disasters, for example, is likely to affect children around the world -- not just directly, but indirectly as well, through such impacts as contaminated water supplies, increased breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects and greater risk of food-borne diseases.
But there was more still: warmer temperatures and greater rainfall are also linked to childhood diarrhea, which is tragically fatal to more than a million-and-a-half children under the age of five each year. And higher levels of pollution, including ozone, and allergens mean a greater risk for childhood respiratory problems and other ailments.
As a parent, I worry enough on a daily basis about the world I'm leaving behind for my little boy, who's only 4 1/2. Reports like these only make those worries more real and stark. Hopefully, they also will help to inspire many more people to finally start taking the threat of climate change and environmental degradation more seriously. Let's hope so, for our children's sake.