New research reveals that extreme heat doesn’t just threaten health and the environment—it also slows early childhood development.
By analyzing data from more than 19,000 young children across six countries, scientists found that exposure to temperatures above 86 °F sharply reduced the likelihood of meeting basic literacy and numeracy milestones.
Climate Change and Early Childhood Development Risks
Climate change, including prolonged heat waves and unusually high temperatures, is already known to threaten ecosystems, food production, and public health. New findings now suggest that these rising temperatures may also interfere with how young children develop during their earliest years.
Research published today (December 8) in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry reports that children who experienced higher-than-typical temperatures, particularly when average maximum temperatures exceeded 86 °F (30 °C), were less likely to achieve expected literacy and numeracy milestones. Children living in areas with cooler conditions reached these benchmarks at higher rates.
“While heat exposure has been linked to negative physical and mental health outcomes across the life course, this study provides a new insight that excessive heat negatively impacts young children’s development across diverse countries,” says lead author Jorge Cuartas, assistant professor of applied psychology at NYU Steinhardt. “Because early development lays the foundation for lifelong learning, physical and mental health, and overall well-being, these findings should alert researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to the urgent need to protect children’s development in a warming world.”
A Global Look at Temperature Exposure and Child Development
Cuartas and the research team examined information from 19,607 children ages three and four in Gambia, Georgia, Madagascar, Malawi, Palestine, and Sierra Leone. These countries were selected because they offered detailed records on children’s developmental progress, living conditions, and exposure to local climate patterns, allowing the researchers to estimate how much heat each child experienced.
To evaluate development, the study relied on the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI), which assesses core milestones in four domains: reading and number-related abilities (literacy and numeracy), social-emotional growth, learning behaviors, and physical development. The team also incorporated 2017-2020 data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), which include demographic and well-being measures such as education, health, nutrition, and sanitation. By combining the ECDI and MICS information with climate data that tracked average monthly temperatures, the researchers explored whether heat exposure corresponded with delays in early development.
Higher Heat Linked to Missed Milestones
The analysis showed that children exposed to average maximum temperatures above 86 °F (30 °C) were 5 to 6.7 percent less likely to reach basic literacy and numeracy milestones compared to children in the same season and region who experienced temperatures below 78.8 °F. The developmental setbacks were even more pronounced among children from economically disadvantaged families, those with limited access to clean water, and children growing up in urban environments.
“We urgently need more research to identify the mechanisms that explain these effects and the factors that either protect children or heighten their vulnerability. Such work will help pinpoint concrete targets for policies and interventions that strengthen preparedness, adaptation, and resilience as climate change intensifies,” says Cuartas.
Reference: “Ambient heat and early childhood development: a cross-national analysis” by Jorge Cuartas, Lenin H. Balza, Andrés Camacho and Nicolás Gómez-Parra, 8 December 2025, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.70081
This study was co-authored by Lenin H. Balza of the Interamerican Development Bank, Andrés Camacho of the University of Chicago, and Nicolás Gómez-Parra of the Interamerican Development Bank.
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3 Comments
Its pitiful what is called “Science” these days.
Amazingly bad and blatant propaganda.
Agree!!
Where in the mid-latitudes has it NOT gotten to 86 degrees frequently in the Summer — when schools are typically engaging in the Summer Break over the last couple of hundred years? I suppose that could be changing and getting much worse since the average global temperatures have been increasing about 0.17 degrees F per DECADE, raising the boat, as it were, about 1 degree F over the last 6 decades. Except that it was cooling in the ’70s! And then one should take into account that the average annual temperature increase is dominated by increases in the nighttime temperatures and Winter, particularly in the Arctic. I think that the alarmists are trying too hard and making themselves look foolish while they try to get something to stick to their tar baby.
I suggest reading the following:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/06/the-gestalt-of-heat-waves/