It’s time for parents to step up their efforts for clean air

In 1981, less than a month after the first evidence of global warming appeared on its website front pagethe The New York Times asked B.F. Skinner About the fate of humanity. The famous psychologist recently argued that one feature of the human mind virtually guarantees global environmental catastrophe. “Why don’t we take action to save our world?” Skinner asked, referring to the planet’s countless threats.

His answer: Human behavior is almost entirely governed by our experiences, specifically, by which actions have been rewarded or punished in the past. The future, which has not yet happened, will not have the same impact on what we do; We will seek familiar rewards today—money, comfort, security, pleasure, power—even when it threatens every person on the planet tomorrow.

Skinner was one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century, yet he is rarely credited with the prescience of this warning, which predicted the behavior of fossil fuel executives and politicians over the next four decades. I’ve wrestled with it often. I am a pediatrician in Reno, Nevada The fastest warming city In the United States. I look into the eyes of children, babies and teenagers every day. Skinner claimed that our choices will change only when the consequences of environmental destruction move from “tomorrow” to “today.” I believe that in 2025, the harms to children will become so clear and immediate that even parents – the sleeping giant in the climate fight – will wake up to what the fossil fuel industry has done.

Over the past decade, for example, my city has been dark for longer periods of time than ever due to wildfire smoke emanating from California; 65 million Americans, Most of them in the West are now suffering from such “smoke crises.” Everyone knows that smoke causes respiratory problems; We all cough and wheeze when the air becomes dangerous for weeks at a time. Even fewer realize that children are more at risk from these events for multiple reasons, most of which are related to their different physiology, small size, and immature organs – which, because they are still developing, are highly vulnerable to environmental injury. Children’s lungsfor example, are literally shaped by the quality of the air they breathe. Children who chronically inhale polluted particles — such as those who live in Los Angeles’ most polluted neighborhoods — tend to develop smaller, stiffer lungs.

In 2025, the media will realize that the damage caused by these small pollutants is even more profound. That’s because a growing body of science shows that fine and ultrafine particles, which are commonly associated with toxic chemicals and heavy metals in wildfire smoke and exhaust, cause brain injuries in children. Alarmingly, they appear to be contributing to the epidemic-like rise in autism and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in addition to increasing the risk of learning difficulties, behavioral problems, and beyond Dementia.

Why? Because these small pollutants do not stop in the lungs; They invade the bloodstream and penetrate other organs, including the brain, which, like the lungs, is still growing and developing in the baby and is therefore more vulnerable to harm.

Evidence for the neuroprotective effects of particles comes from brain imaging, histology, and epidemiology. We know that even before birth, Particles inhaled by pregnant women It can cross the placenta and harm the fetus. MRI studies have shown it in many countries Changing the structure of the brain In children exposed to the disease before birth, many of whom have cognitive and behavioral problems. After birth, particles can also penetrate the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain behind the forehead — after being inhaled through the nose. When scientists studied the brains of children and young people in… Mexico Cityfamous for its foul air, found fossil fuel molecules, encased in Alzheimer’s-like plaques, embedded in the prefrontal cortex.

Evidence of a link between autism and ADHD has emerged in more than a decade of epidemiological studies from around the world. In a Multi-year study For example, among nearly 300,000 Southern California children, prenatal exposure to PM2.5 (the smallest particle regulated by law) was shown to significantly increase autism rates. And a recent study of more than 164 thousand children in China Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter has been found to increase the risk of developing ADHD. Although autism and ADHD are complex disorders with multiple genetic and environmental causes, it is increasingly clear that air pollution—caused by fossil fuels and exacerbated by climate change—is a significant risk factor.