AAP adds its voice for climate change education

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The American Academy of Pediatrics, representing 64,000 pediatricians, recently released a policy statement on "Global Climate Change and Children's Health" that includes a call for climate change education.

The statement, published in the November 2015 issue of Pediatrics, notes, "Rising global temperatures are causing major physical, chemical, and ecological changes in the planet. There is wide consensus among scientific organizations and climatologists that these broad effects, known as 'climate change,' are the result of contemporary human activity. Climate change poses threats to human health, safety, and security, and children are uniquely vulnerable to these threats." The statement calls on government at all levels to "[s]upport education and public awareness of the threats from climate change for public and children’s health now and in the future."

The statement updates a 2007 statement that included the same call for climate education. NCSE is in the process of collecting statements supporting climate change evolution such as AAP's in Voices for Climate Change Education.