Climate Matters•June 11, 2024
Extreme Heat Risks for Children
KEY CONCEPTS
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S.
Children — especially babies, younger kids, and athletes — are among those most vulnerable to heat-related illness.
Climate change has amplified average temperatures and extreme heat events across the U.S. Temperatures will continue rising without drastic cuts to heat-trapping carbon pollution.
Protecting children from dangerous heat at home, at school, and during outdoor activities is possible with awareness and preparation.
Climate Central’s fact sheet, Climate Change & Children’s Health: Extreme Heat, details how warming trends are worsening extreme heat risks for children’s health and well-being.
Extreme heat is risky — especially for children
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S. Children — especially babies, younger kids, and athletes — are among those most vulnerable to heat-related illness.
Babies and younger children have difficulty regulating their core body temperature and can be more vulnerable to hot weather. Young children sweat less and acclimate to heat more slowly than adults. During outdoor sports or play, kids may ignore or miss symptoms of heat stress.
Heat illness symptoms can include headaches, nausea, cramps, or lethargy and may require urgent medical attention. Severe cases of heat stroke can cause organ damage or death.
Climate Central’s fact sheet, Climate Change & Children’s Health: Extreme Heat, details how warming trends are worsening the risks of extreme heat for children’s health and well-being.
Protecting kids from heat impacts
Adults and caregivers can protect children’s health by reducing exposure to dangerous heat at home, at school, and during outdoor activities.
Check temperature and heat risk forecasts and note heat advisories or excessive heat warnings.
Avoid outdoor activities during the hottest part of the day (usually midday).
Plan to take frequent breaks in the shade or air-conditioned spaces.
Make sure kids drink enough water during outdoor play or sports.
Know the symptoms of heat-related illness and be prepared to take action.
Heat-trapping carbon pollution amplifies heat risks
Summers have warmed across the U.S. and extremely hot days now happen more often. Human-caused climate change is making extreme heat events more likely, including early this summer across North America. Temperatures will continue rising without drastic cuts to heat-trapping carbon pollution.
Without effective measures to adapt to a warming world, children will experience worse health impacts –- including a potential increase in heat-related emergency room visits.
Heat impacts aren’t felt equally. Studies have shown that urban heat islands are more likely to be found in predominantly lower-income and non-white communities.
Future generations are likely to face accelerating change and intensifying risks — particularly from heat waves –- with continued warming. Ultimately, a commitment to rapid, sustained cuts to carbon pollution is the most impactful action to slow the rate of warming and set younger generations on a different path, toward a safer future.
Children are sensitive to climate change impacts
Children are still growing and developing. They spend more time playing outdoors and have less control over their surrounding environments. This makes them especially vulnerable to climate change stressors. Children also have less understanding of potential health risks from environmental exposures. And the effects of climate change experienced in childhood can have lifelong consequences on physical and mental health.
Climate Central’s series Climate Change and Children’s Health details how climate change affects kids. Read about how climate change is worsening the effects of extreme heat and seasonal allergies for children. Stay tuned for future topics about children’s health, including air quality changes and flooding risks.
LOCAL STORY ANGLES
Find summer temperature trends for your local area.
Climate Central’s 2024 Summer Package provides analysis of summer (June, July, and August) average temperature data in 241 U.S. locations during the last 54 years (1970-2023).
Map the influence of climate change on daily heat extremes in your area.
Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index system provides tools, data, custom maps, and local alerts to answer this question in real-time.
Check local temperature and heat risk forecasts.
HeatRisk is an interactive map tool from the National Weather Service, now available for the contiguous U.S. This color-numeric index shows current and forecast risk of daily local heat-related impacts.
See how extreme heat is affecting public health locally.
The CDC’s Heat and Health Tracker maps heat-related illnesses at the census tract level in real time. Use the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) Heat Equity Mapper to explore the burden of extreme heat at the census tract level. Check the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services monthly Climate and Health Outlook for extreme heat outlooks in your region throughout the summer.
Learn more about how climate change impacts children’s health – now and in the future.
Read the Environmental Protection Agency’s report, Climate Change and Children’s Health and Well-Being in the United States, for information and analyses about current and future climate change impacts on children across the country. Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child paper, Extreme Heat Affects Early Childhood Development and Health, explores how extreme heat can affect young children’s health and development.
CONTACT EXPERTS
Lisa Patel, MD
Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatrician at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health
Executive Director, Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health
Related expertise: children's health and climate change
Media contact: media@stanfordchildrens.org
Rebecca Stearns, PhD, ATC
Associate Professor and Chief Operating Officer, Korey Stringer Institute
University of Connecticut
Relevant expertise: exertional heat-related illnesses and heat stroke, sports and heat, hydration
Contact: rebecca.stearns@uconn.edu (Best availability: June 17-19)
Caitlin Gould, DrPH, MPPA
Environmental Policy Analyst
EPA’s Climate Change Division
Relevant expertise: climate change and health
Media Contact: Shayla Powell, powell.shayla@epa.gov
FIND EXPERTS
Submit a request to SciLine from the American Association for the Advancement of Science or to the Climate Data Concierge from Columbia University. These free services rapidly connect journalists to relevant scientific experts.
Browse maps of climate experts and services at regional NOAA, USDA, and Department of the Interior offices.
Explore databases such as 500 Women Scientists, BIPOC Climate and Energy Justice PhDs, and Diverse Sources to find and amplify diverse expert voices.
Reach out to your State Climate Office or the nearest Land-Grant University to connect with scientists, educators, and extension staff in your local area.