Climate changes can affect children

Climate changes could severely upset the mental health of children worldwide, warn medical experts. Extreme weather events, drought, financial

Climate changes can affect children (Getty Images)

strain and changes in work, migration patterns triggered by climate change, will cause people to be increasingly vulnerable to post traumatic stress disorder and depression, said Helen Berry, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH).

“Mental health problems aren’t just collateral damage from climate change, they could well be one of the most profound effects,” warned Berry. “Climate change amplifies existing risks, particularly for children,” she added. Despite the risk, this is an area that has received little attention.

The impacts will be more severe for children, because they will be exposed to climate change for longer over their lifetime, said Lyndall Strazdins of NCEPH from the Australian National University. Children are also less mentally prepared to deal with the stress from climate change related trauma such as bush fires, which are set to increase by up to 75 per cent by 2050, said Strazdins.

“All of these factors interact and could result in a great increase in severe mental health problems,” she said. Climate change can affect people in a number of different ways, says Berry. It can act directly on mental health through trauma exposure, for example a cyclone caused by increasing temperatures, or it can act indirectly via disease and community changes, said a ScienceAlert release, authored by Fiona MacDonald.

“A number of studies have revealed that children are already anxious and fearful about climate change. They need to be at the centre of the debate – yet the impact of climate change on children and the costs to future generations is not being discussed,” said Strazdins.

Berry presented these findings at the Australian Science Media Centre briefing last week.