📖 Rising Temperatures May Lead to Developmental Delays in Children

📖 Rising Temperatures May Lead to Developmental Delays in Children

As temperatures continue to rise around the globe, researchers are scrambling to study the impacts to human health. One study analyzed data for nearly 20,000 three and four year olds from Gambia, Georgia, Madagascar, Malawi, Palestinian territories, and Sierra Leone. The study found that young children who experienced hotter temperatures than usual were less likely to meet basic developmental milestones than those living in nearby, but slightly cooler areas. Children in lower income households and urban areas were especially vulnerable. Children living where average monthly high temperatures topped 86F were 5-7% less likely to be developmentally on track than children who lived in the same area but experienced temperatures about 9F cooler. Out of the 20,000 children studied, around 63% were developmentally on track. Cognitive milestones such as learning to read and do math were more likely to be affected than physical or social milestones.

Jonathan Lambert, NPR

🌡️ AccuWeather Climate Study Highlights

AccuWeather just released a new climate study for the contiguous United States that reveals profound climate trends with potentially far-reaching impacts. The study found that temperatures have increased an average of 0.5F per decade over the past 70 years. Dew point temperatures have increased an average of 0.3F per decade over the same time period, though most of the increase was prior to 1995. Relative humidity remained fairly steady until 1995, but then decreased by an average of 1.7% per decade since then. Average annual rainfall declined 2.7% since 1995, yet the frequency of rainfall amounts greater than 4” in a 24 hour period increased by 70%. If these trends continue, they are likely to have major impacts on the U.S. economy, food and water supply, human comfort levels, energy needs, and the health and welfare of citizens.

AccuWeather

❌ U.S. Withdraws from Climate-related Organizations

Last week, the Trump administration announced it has withdrawn the United States from 66 international organizations and treaties, including many that work to combat climate change. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty that underpins all international efforts to combat global warming, is one affected UN-related body. While the U.S. constitution allows presidents to join treaties with two-thirds of Senators agreeing, it is unclear what happens if they were to withdraw. The U.S. also withdrew from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading authority on climate science that creates the most respected reports on the science of rising global temperatures. Other organizations affected by the U.S. withdrawal include those focused on renewable energy, biodiversity, ecosystems, nature conservation, oceans, and the environment.

Danny Aeberhard, Rachel Hagen, and Matt McGrath, BBC News