The grim effects that climate change will have on pediatric health outcomes was the focus of a “Viewpoint” article published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by Susan E. Pacheco, MD, an expert at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
The grim effects that climate change will have on pediatric health outcomes was the focus of a “Viewpoint” article published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by Susan E. Pacheco, MD, an expert at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
Pacheco, an associate professor of pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, along with professors from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the George Washington University, authored a series of articles that detail how increased temperatures due to climate change will negatively affect the health of humanity. In the article authored by Pacheco, she shines a light on the startling effects the crisis has on children’s health before they are even born.
Pacheco points to research published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which highlights several ways humans will experience adverse health effects from climate change, such as increased mortality and morbidity due to heat waves and fires, increased risk of food- and water-borne illnesses, and malnutrition due to food scarcity.
These negative experiences bring with them psychological trauma and mental health issues that can affect both children and their caretakers. Pacheco wrote that after Hurricane Maria in 2017, many adults in Puerto Rico experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety from living weeks and months without access to necessities such as clean water, electricity, and basic medical care.
Read more at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Photo Credit: 12019 via Pixabay
