A BABY’S HEART MAY SUFFER FROM GLOBAL WARMING
A BABY’S HEART MAY SUFFER FROM GLOBAL WARMING
Until now, extreme temperatures are known to have caused larger and angrier hurricanes, melting of the ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic areas, or the endangerment of wildlife and various ecosystems from all over the world. But also, babies’ hearts?
Shocking as it may seem, yes, it seems that global warming does that, too.
40,000 CASES OF BABIES BORN WITH HEART DEFECTS
The first study, published in 2018, included women that gave birth between 1997 and 2007. It discovered that women exposed to high temperatures while pregnant, was linked to a higher risk of babies being with congenital heart defects.
The new study – conducted by the same researchers – was published on January 30 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, and is implying that from 2025, the hotter temperatures caused by global warming may increase the number of heart defects in babies that are born in the U.S. The number of newborns that have congenital heart defects already rises to 40,000.
“Although few studies have assessed the impact of climate change on maternal heat exposure, our estimates are consistent with prior findings of the association between increased ambient heat events and climate change. The global coupled climate model ensembles suggest that several regions in the Northern Hemisphere, including the United States, may experience increased extreme heat severity in the 21st century,” the scientists wrote in the study.
The report writes that the greatest increase in babies born with heart defects seems to happen in the Midwest, the Northeast and the South.
PREGNANT WOMEN SHOULD AVOID EXTREME HEAT
Scientists found that from 2025 and all the way to 2035, heat events caused by global warming may increase the number of babies born with congenital heart diseases, by 7,000.
This was based on forecasts provided by NASA and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Simulating changes in daily maximum temperatures for various geographic regions in the United States, researchers calculated the amount of extreme heat that pregnant women will be exposed to during the year.
In a statement, one of the authors, Dr. Lin (State University of New York) said that “although this study is preliminary, it would be prudent for women in the early weeks of pregnancy to avoid heat extremes similar to the advice given to persons with cardiovascular and pulmonary disease during heart spells.”
Now question is what would happen to pregnant women and their newborn babies, if no place on Earth would be cool enough anymore?
