Extreme weather events put children’s brains and mental health at risk, researchers warn

Scientists say rising climate disasters could act as hidden childhood traumas, reshaping brain development and fueling mental health crises without urgent global action.

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Researchers in Australia and Nepal warn that extreme climatic and weather events (ECEs) pose serious, long-term mental health risks to children by causing toxic stress driven by neglect, family separation, poverty, and displacement. Their perspective article is published in the journal Communications Medicine.

Although direct neurobiological evidence remains limited, emerging evidence, such as the Generation R study, shows links between extreme temperatures, reduced brain connectivity, and impaired white matter development, and parallels with research on childhood trauma show that repeated ECEs elevate risks to mental health and disrupt development.

Background

ECEs such as heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and storms are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change. Beyond causing immediate harm like malnutrition, injury, and disease, they also act as traumatic stressors that disrupt children’s sense of security and stability.

These events can trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression, and even contribute to long-term physical conditions such as cardiovascular disease. Between 1990 and 2023, an average of 364 ECEs occurred annually, affecting 400 million people and displacing 26 million, with children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) disproportionately impacted due to limited resources.

Traditionally, research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), harmful or traumatic events occurring within the family, such as parental instability, abuse, and neglect, has focused on family-based trauma. However, newer frameworks like TRACEs (Traumatic and Adverse Childhood Experiences), which include both family and broader societal trauma, expand this to include community- and society-level adversities.

Still, environmental stressors like ECEs remain underrepresented, despite their ability to produce toxic stress responses similar to ACEs, particularly during sensitive developmental stages.

The authors introduce environmentally driven ACEs (E-ACEs), emphasizing their distinct impact on children’s lifelong mental and physical health. Recognizing E-ACEs underscores the urgent need for resilience-building interventions specific to the growing threat of climate-related events.

An Emerging Conceptual Model

E-ACEs describe the stress children endure from direct exposure to repeated or intense climate and weather events or from indirect consequences like displacement, poverty, family separation, and violence. Evidence, though still limited, suggests that such experiences can disrupt neurodevelopment.

For example, studies link high temperatures and early exposure to extreme weather with changes in brain connectivity and impaired white matter growth. These disruptions may parallel the neurobiological effects of traditional ACEs, which are known to alter brain development, immune function, and stress regulation.

ECEs can overwhelm children’s sense of safety, triggering toxic stress responses that increase risks of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and behavioral problems.

Indirect pathways, including food insecurity, unstable caregiving, and loss of livelihoods, may further amplify biological effects by dysregulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and heightening inflammation, with evidence pointing to elevated cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-2 that are linked to long-term vulnerability to mental disorders and chronic diseases.

Repeated exposure shows cumulative, dose-response effects, with risks escalating alongside the number and severity of ECEs, patterns similar to those found in ACE research. Protective factors, such as strong family support, can buffer these outcomes.

However, most existing evidence comes from high-income countries, leaving major gaps in understanding E-ACEs in LMICs. Case studies, such as urban displacement into Dhaka’s overcrowded slums, highlight how climate refugees face compounded risks, including neglect, violence, and lack of access to education and healthcare.

Crucial Childhood Interventions

The authors argue that strengthening resilience, defined as the ability to adapt and recover from adversity, is central to protecting children from E-ACEs. Resilience must go beyond individual traits like coping skills and self-control, since climate-related stressors are often systemic and prolonged. Instead, multi-level approaches that combine family, community, and institutional support are recommended.

At the family and community level, strong social ties, supportive parenting, stable caregiving, and peer networks can buffer children from the psychological toll of repeated climate shocks. When these supports are compromised, alternative structures such as schools, community organizations, religious groups, non-governmental organizations, and government child protection services become vital.

Programs that integrate mental health care, social support, and economic recovery, such as microfinancing, vocational training, and sustainable agriculture, can reduce both stressors and vulnerability. Schools can also foster resilience through trauma-informed teaching, social-emotional learning, and climate education.

Community-based mental health programs demonstrate the effectiveness of layered, culturally grounded psychosocial care that involves local leaders, health workers, and digital tools. Examples include India’s NIMHANS psychosocial care model, which mobilizes local leaders, health workers, and volunteers, and the COPEWELL resilience framework in the US that integrates health systems, social capital, and emergency response planning. However, the authors caution that frameworks like COPEWELL remain largely untested in LMICs and will require local adaptation before they can be scaled.

However, most initiatives remain short-term and underfunded. The authors emphasize the need for transformational resilience by building systems that adapt and grow stronger against future crises, particularly in LMICs.

Conclusions

With ECEs becoming more frequent and severe, the authors warn that these events could increasingly act as E-ACEs, disrupting brain development, stress regulation, and immune function, with long-term risks for mental and physical health.

In LMICs, rising displacement and urban poverty may further amplify these adversities. However, children and communities with strong social networks and access to resources show greater resilience, highlighting the importance of investing in family and community support, trauma-informed mental health services, and resilience-building interventions.

The authors stress that addressing E-ACEs requires coordinated action across local, national, and global levels, with wealthier nations playing a key role in supporting vulnerable populations.