Climate Change Poses Threats to Children’s Health Worldwide
To that end, the report does contain glimmers of hope. Carbon intensity, or how much energy can be produced for each unit of greenhouse gas released, has increased. And more cities are filing climate assessments detailing solutions that can be put into place. But these actions are happening against a backdrop of greenhouse gas emissions that continue to rise.
A child born today will live until 2090 on average, Dr. Watts said, noting that without changes to greenhouse gas emissions the planet could warm by 4 degrees by then. “We roughly know what that looks like from a climate perspective," he said. “We have no idea what that looks like from a public health perspective. But we know it is catastrophic.”
The report, and its focus on children, comes at a time when youth climate demonstrations including school strike protests spearheaded by Greta Thunberg, the Sunrise movement and Extinction Rebellion have attracted attention.
“This may be the first time in the history of the United States that there are children wondering whether they are going to have a future, whether they should have children as a result of the potential for climate change to get worse and worse,” Ms. McCarthy said.
Read More At The New York Times
Related Books
Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities
by Peter Plastrik , John ClevelandThe future of our cities is not what it used to be. The modern-city model that took hold globally in the twentieth century has outlived its usefulness. It cannot solve the problems it helped to create—especially global warming. Fortunately, a new model for urban development is emerging in cities to aggressively tackle the realities of climate change. It transforms the way cities design and use physical space, generate economic wealth, consume and dispose of resources, exploit and sustain the natural ecosystems, and prepare for the future. Available On Amazon
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
by Elizabeth KolbertOver the last half-billion years, there have been Five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human. Available On Amazon
Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats
by Gwynne DyerWaves of climate refugees. Dozens of failed states. All-out war. From one of the world’s great geopolitical analysts comes a terrifying glimpse of the strategic realities of the near future, when climate change drives the world’s powers towards the cut-throat politics of survival. Prescient and unflinching, Climate Wars will be one of the most important books of the coming years. Read it and find out what we’re heading for. Available On Amazon
From The Publisher:
Purchases on Amazon go to defray the cost of bringing you InnerSelf.comelf.com, MightyNatural.com, and ClimateImpactNews.com at no cost and without advertisers that track your browsing habits. Even if you click on a link but don't buy these selected products, anything else you buy in that same visit on Amazon pays us a small commission. There is no additional cost to you, so please contribute to the effort. You can also use this link to use to Amazon at any time so you can help support our efforts.