Environmental Health: Leaders for Climate Change

The consequences of poverty and race on the health and well-being of children are compounded and amplified by the impact of climate change in the form of heat, drought, flooding, or extreme weather events. Poor children and children of color currently suffer disproportionately from the social, economic, environmental, and political realities in which they live, and are at greater risk for morbidity and mortality. The challenges are complex and multifaceted, requiring creative and coordinated responses at multiple levels. There are two fundamental challenges of undeniably gargantuan proportion, first the ever-increasing rise in global temperature without a sign of respite that requires a concerted effort to dramatically reduce the burning of fossil fuels and second the intractable historic social, economic, and racial inequities, locally and globally that requires a concerted effort to confront historic injustices and develop strategies to promote justice and equity for all. There is no one solution to the challenges, but a global concerted effort to tackle the different aspects in as many ways as possible by as many different large governmental entities, intermediate size public and private agencies, and organizations, as well as individuals and small groups. In this book we bring some research on the impact on the health of our children in this world affected by climate change.