New Study Links Extreme Heat to Delayed Early Childhood Development

A recent study from New York University has found that exposure to higher-than-usual temperatures may delay early childhood developmental milestones compared to peers living in cooler regions. This conclusion coincides with an announcement by scientists from the European Union’s Copernicus Program, stating that 2025 is likely to be the second or third hottest year on record, with global average temperatures between January and November exceeding pre-industrial levels by 1.48°C.

Impact of Extreme Heat on Child Development

Published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the study analyzed data from 19,607 children aged three to four in Gambia, Georgia, Malawi, Madagascar, Palestine, and Sierra Leone. Researchers selected these countries due to the availability of detailed data on child development, family factors, and climate conditions.

Key findings include:

• Children exposed to average extreme temperatures above 30°C were 5–6.7% less likely to reach basic milestones in reading and numeracy compared to those exposed to temperatures below 26°C in the same region and season.

• These effects were most pronounced among children from economically vulnerable families, those with limited access to clean water, and those living in urban areas.

Protecting Children from Extreme Heat

Early childhood lays the foundation for lifelong learning, physical and mental health, and overall well-being. Lead author Jorge Cuartas warned that these findings should alert researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to the urgent need to protect child development in a warming world.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that human-caused climate change has intensified heatwaves since the 1950s, and even a global rise of 0.5°C can produce significant effects.

This summer, climate change raised temperatures by up to 3.6°C in 854 European cities, with researchers from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimating that around 24,400 people died due to extreme heat in Europe, meaning climate change accounted for 68% of these excess deaths.

According to Dr. Claire Barnes of Imperial College London:

“These numbers, though seemingly small, show that just a few degrees can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people. It is a stark reminder that climate change is not an issue we can postpone addressing.”