January 2024 – This working paper from the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment explores how extreme heat can affect young children’s biological systems and disrupt development, as well as the many ways it can amplify the effects of systemic inequities. It was published by Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child.
The paper also offers strategies to mitigate the impact of extreme temperatures and provide new ways of cooling the communities where children live, grow, learn, and play. In the accompanying Action Guide for Policy, you can also explore promising opportunities and community-informed solutions already seeing progress.
Sections include:
- How the human body responds to excessive heat.
- The powerful effects that extreme temperatures can have during pregnancy and early childhood, including impacts on learning, sleep quality, and mental and behavioral health.
- How heat amplifies systemic inequities, including air quality, access to nutritious foods, and structural disadvantages.
- Practical solutions for working to mitigate climate change, slow the heating of our environment, and provide new ways of cooling our communities.
- Implications for new directions in policy.
In July 2025, Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child produced a one-page brief that summarizes how extreme heat affects young children—and steps individuals, communities, and systems can take to help reduce its impact.