Fig. 1: Levels of climate change effects.
Climate change is a multifaceted issue that will impact people through a variety of mechanisms. To better understand the various ways that climate change will impact pediatric populations we identified a three-ringed pyramid of effects. The bottom tier includes the primary effects of climate change relating to the direct weather and climate changes that will occur because of human induced climate change. Primary effects include but are not limited to rising sea levels, extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and drought. The secondary effects, shown on the second rung will be changes dependant on the primary effects of climate change and will result in in changes in ecosystems, including but limited to disruptions in food and water systems and altering disease transmission routes through altered ecologies. In the highest level we discuss the tertiary effects and long-term social changes, arising through changes in the climate and ecosystems. Tertiary effects will arise as a result of complex, socio-political, economic and cultural responses as a result of climate change. This framework is conceptually related to the “primary”, “secondary” and “tertiary” health effect framework, upon which most of this book is based.
