Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Public health

Child brains respond to climate change

Maternal exposure to ambient heat during pregnancy has been shown to increase the risk for several adverse birth outcomes. Now research reveals that variations of ambient temperature during pregnancy and childhood could have a long-term impact on a child’s brain development.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. WHO, UNICEF & United Nations Population Fund Protecting Maternal, Newborn and Child Health from the Impacts of Climate Change: Call for Action (WHO, 2023); https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/374272

  2. Chersich, M. F. et al. Br. Med. J. 371, m3811 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. McElroy, S., Ilango, S., Dimitrova, A., Gershunov, A. & Benmarhnia, T. Environ. Int. 158, 106902 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Granés, L. et al. Nat. Clim. Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02027-w (2024).

  5. Faurie, C., Varghese, B. M., Liu, J. & Bi, P. Sci. Total Environ. 852, 158332 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Barker, D. J. P., Winter, P. D., Osmond, C., Margetts, B. & Simmonds, S. J. Lancet 334, 577–580 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Wells, J. C. K. J. Theor. Biol. 214, 413–425 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. van Wettere, W. H. E. J. et al. J. Anim. Sci. Biotechnol. 12, 26 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Guilbert, A. et al. JAMA Netw. Open 6, e233376 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cardenas-Iniguez, C. et al. Biol. Psychiatry Cogn. Neurosci. Neuroimaging 7, 362–375 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Pittner, K. et al. Neurobiol. Sleep Circadian Rhythms 14, 100091 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Abraham, E. et al. Environ. Int. 118, 334–347 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Adebiyi, O. E., Adigun, K. O., Adebiyi, A. I. & Odenibi, B. S. Neuroscience 488, 60–76 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johanna Lepeule.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lepeule, J. Child brains respond to climate change. Nat. Clim. Chang. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02029-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02029-8

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing