How Climate Change Impacts Family Child Care
I’ve come face to face with climate change in three dramatic ways:
While in Hawaii on a recent vacation I saw beaches filled with plastic waste from the ocean. I was very depressed to see the beauty of the islands spoiled. In previous visits to the islands I had not seen such pollution. Plastic pollution is estimated to kill millions of birds, fishes and marine mammals each year.
I was in Redding, California in July, 2018 in the middle of the horrendous fire that destroyed many homes. I was there to give a workshop, but no one showed up. I could see the red flames on the western horizon as ash fell on my car.
In a trip to Alaska I was taken by the local training sponsor to a glacier outside of town. I was told that the glacier was fast receding and that it would never return. To see the loss of such beauty made me extremely sad.
The earth is warming a much faster rate than ever before, and it’s caused by carbon pollution created primarily by fossil fuels. The science is clear - manmade (woman made?) activities have created a climate crisis from which there may be no turning back if we don’t act to alleviate its causes.
Climate change seems to be in the news on a daily basis.
The current Amazon rainforest fires threatens to destroy 20% of the planet’s pure air. https://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/amazon-fires-threatening.html
Between July 31st and August 3rdof this year, more than 58 billion tons of ice melted from the surface of Greenland. The average for this time of year is less than 18 billion tons. Scientists say that it will take 1,000 years for the ice to come back, even if the earth’s temperature stops rising. https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-08-20/greenlands-glaciers-are-melting
July was the hottest month on record across the world. With continued greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting impact on global temperatures, high temperature records will continue to be broken in the future. https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/world/hottest-july-on-record-climate-sci-intl/index.html
We continue to hear about regular extreme weather events such as drought, floods, fires, and hurricanes. Climate change increases the number and intensity of these weather events.
What does this have to do with family child care?
All of us are affected by climate change, especially the children you care for as well as your own children. Without more immediate and intensified efforts to slow down the effects of climate change, the world we leave to our children will be vastly different.
“Because they are still growing, children are at greatest risk ofinjury, disability and death caused by the impacts of climate change. They areless equipped physically, mentally and emotionally to cope withlife-threatening conditions. The greatest killers of children – malnutrition,diarrhoeal disease and malaria – will get worse because of climate change.Children living in developing countries face the greatest risks of all, not becauseclimate change effects will be any worse there than in other countries, butbecause poverty limits their ability to respond.” https://www.worldvision.com.au/global-issues/work-we-do/climate-change/climate-change-the-effects-on-children
“Kids face unique health burdens because of climate change, according to the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP), including “the broad effects of weather disasters, exacerbated allergic and asthmatic diseases, food and water insecurity, and heat-related deaths.”
“As climate change accelerates,” the 67,000 pediatrician-strong organization writes, “children will continue to suffer disproportionately.”
“Children are in the crosshairs for a few reasons. Their immune systems are still developing, leaving their rapidly growing bodies more sensitive to disease and environmental pollutants. They breathe, eat, and drink more for their size than adults, spend more time outdoors, and may not be emotionally mature enough to understand the things happening around them.” https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/climate-change-and-health-children
These effects include worsening allergies and asthma, psychological stress, malnutrition, infectious disease, and neurological concerns. This is not an issue that just affects countries outside American, it is here now.
Family childcare providers are in a unique position to have a positive impact on children and their families. They can have an impact on alleviating the devastating effects of climate change.
In my next blog post I will spell out what practical steps providers can take to address climate change.
How has climate change impacted your life and why is it important to you?
Tom Copeland - www.tomcopelandblog.com
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Climate_change_icon.png
https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/post/northwest-climate-conference-addresses-climate-change-idaho#stream/
