This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Children across Europe have returned to school after a summer of extreme heat. As the climate warms, one question is becoming harder to ignore: How can students learn when classrooms become dangerously hot?
Extreme weather is likely to disrupt schooling more often in the years ahead. But climate change can influence a child's education even before they set foot in a classroom. In research conducted with my colleagues, we examined evidence on exposure to extreme weather during pregnancy and early childhood, including floods, droughts and unusually high temperatures.
Such exposure has been linked to lower birth weight, poorer childhood development, starting school later, lower enrollment and completing fewer years of education. The effects can be particularly severe in low- and middle-income countries, where families may have fewer resources to cope with a sudden loss of food, income or access to health care. The reasons can be painfully simple.
When crops fail or floods destroy livelihoods, families may have less money for food and medical care. Pregnant women may eat less, work longer hours or struggle to reach health services. Young children may miss out on adequate nutrition or care while their bodies and brains are developing rapidly.
Research is beginning to show how these early shocks can reverberate years later. In Ecuador, researchers studied children whose mothers experienced severe flooding caused by El Niño during pregnancy. El Niño is a periodic warming of the tropical Pacific that disrupts weather around the world and can bring unusually heavy rain to Ecuador.
Each additional month of flood exposure was associated with lower household income and food consumption in the following year. Children exposed before birth were also more likely to have a low birth weight and anemia. They were shorter for their age and performed less well on some tests of thinking and language development.
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