Klimawandel und Kindergesundheit – Ein Aufruf zum Handeln

Climate change is a silent crisis and the biggest threat of our times. Higher temperatures, extreme weather conditions and air pollution have a particular impact on prematurity, acute and chronic airway diseases, allergies and asthma. Furthermore, climate change causes a higher prevalence of the spreading of infectious and vector-borne diseases and a higher exposure to carcinogens and their consequences. In addition to the danger of the climate change harming the somatic health of children and adolescents, it is also a threat to the mental well-being and aggravates social injustice, by which children and adolescents are particularly affected.

To avert the scenarios predicted by scientists, it is not only necessary for politicians to act quickly and extensively but also to rethink our self-understanding as those responsible for child and adolescent health and to face this crisis with a fundamental rearrangement of priorities. As protagonists of the healthcare sector, we are responsible to act in favor of a healthy planet. These actions can and must take place on different levels, as doctors, scientists, in patient care and as medical societies to ensure a future worth living for all our children and adolescents.