Parched, cracked earth cannot nourish a child. When an already impoverished nation experiences drought, its ramifications are severe and far-reaching: barren fields, dying cattle, skeletal children, empty classrooms.

UNICEF, Climate Change and Children report

Looking forward to an uncertain future for their children is every parent's nightmare, yet the reality of climate change means that today's children will bear the bulk of the burden for our current actions.

According to Unite for Climate, 45 per cent of the world's population is younger than 25 years old. It is this generation that will inherit the planet, and experience first-hand the long-term ramifications of our current actions.

In most developing countries, agriculture is the main driver of the economy. Changes in rainfall patterns, increasing weather extremes, and more frequent droughts and floods will make life more difficult for everyone, but children and youth are especially vulnerable.

As sea levels rise, and desertification increases in some regions, communities may be displaced, leaving children to deal with disruptions in food and water supply, homelessness and infectious diseases.

Children's Health

According to Health Canada, and the United Nations, children's smaller body size, and dependency on adults for care means that any major disruption — caused by natural disasters or social and economic upheaval, which climate change will exacerbate — will hit them first.

A report from the American Academy of Pediatrics states: "Direct health impacts from global warming include injury and death from more frequent extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and tornados. For children, this can mean post-traumatic stress, loss of caregivers, disrupted education and displacement."

Globally, there will be more illnesses related to air pollution and extreme heat. Since children's bodies are still developing, they are more sensitive to environmental pollutants and heat stroke.

A Harvard University review identifies three major areas that could affect child health:

• Environmental changes associated with anthropogenic greenhouse gases can lead to respiratory diseases, sunburn, melanoma, and immunosuppression.
• Climate change may directly cause heat stroke, drowning, gastrointestinal diseases, and psychosocial maldevelopment.
• Ecologic alterations triggered by climate change can increase rates of malnutrition, allergies and exposure to mycotoxins, vector-borne diseases (malaria, dengue, encephalitides, Lyme disease), and emerging infectious diseases.

Looking forward

These frightening scenarios need not be the final outcome for our children's future. The complex and interrelated issues around climate change and the future of our children need to be dealt with in a systematic and comprehensive matter. There are numerous ways to get involved on creating a more positive future for today's generation, and the generations to come.

Children and Climate Change

• Health Canada's Climate Change Backgrounder
• United Nations Climate Change and Children Report
• American Academy of Pediatrics Report

Environmental Education (Resources for parents and teachers)

• Clean Calgary Association is a dynamic, non-profit urban environmental organization with a mission to empower Calgarians to create healthy homes and communities through environmental education, products, and services.
• The Alberta Council for Environmental Education works in collaboration with others to advance environmental education in Alberta.
• GreenLearning is a learning resource for innovative teachers interested in trends affecting students' future well-being. GreenLearning helps students participate in their own learning while gaining a more holistic and hopeful understanding of complex energy and environmental challenges. GreenLearning Canada's guide to climate science is aimed at school-age children (grades 5 and up).
• The Redfish School of Change is a non-profit program that developed through a shared recognition that the world is in a troubled state, and that it deeply needs people, in their own communities and bioregions, to facilitate positive change.
• Facing the Future, a Washington State-based not-for-profit organization, offers free teacher resources for sustainability education