National Healthy Schools Summit 2022 I 16
Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was one of the most sobering examples of what compounded and repeated disasters will mean for the continued health and safety of children and communities and schools. Another issue the American Academy of Pediatrics has recognized is the large increase in mental health problems among our children and youth, an issue that climate change contributes to and compounds. The immediate and longterm impacts of climate change on the environment, society, and infrastructure can lead to trauma, shock, stress, anxiety, and depression. I work with a school psychologist in my home county—Sonoma, California. The psychologist has told me about children that have had to evacuate their schools so often that they start to cry when they see smoke in the sky. The repeated anxiety and stress of those evacuations has taken that much of a toll.
While climate change impacts all of us, low-income communities, communities of color, children, the elderly, and those with limited language proficiency are some of the most vulnerable.
Schools are essential sites of climate action and of climate hope. Schools should be environments where children can breathe clean and temperate air and be in a safe and effective learning environment. However, indoor air quality in too many schools is poor. COVID-19 has focused people’s attention on the importance of indoor air quality for multiple benefits such as infection control, health, and learning. Schools can demonstrate health and community benefits when they are the focus of climate action.
Pediatricians have long understood that climate change will be a major determinant for children’s health. We’re already seeing it play out. And we understand that climate change will also disproportionally affect communities living in poverty and communities of color.
TECHNICAL SESSION: DECARBONIZATION OF SCHOOLS— CREATING A HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
• Sara Paul (moderator), Superintendent, SFO, North Branch Area Public Schools, MN, Association of School Business Officials International, Education Committee • Donald Colliver, PhD, PE, FASHRAE, Co-chair, ASHRAE Task Force for Building Decarbonization • Corey B. Metzger, PE, Schools Team Lead – American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers, (ASHRAE)
