Asthma, flooding, wildfires, and Lyme disease, four major consequences of global warming, are increasingly affecting the health of our children in the Lehigh Valley. The long-term consequences of these can instill climate anxiety, a reality of today. Climate change and mental illness are becoming more and more interrelated.
Debra Hendrickson, pediatrician and professor who lectures on the impact of early childhood experience on long-term health, tells us that children’s physiology and metabolism are markedly different from adults. Their lung tissue is growing and changing from birth through adolescence. This makes children much more vulnerable to environmental harm. Children also breathe faster than adults. This means that children are exposed to higher doses of air pollution than adults.
The Lehigh Valley was named the 50th most polluted city in the nation dropping from a C to an F grade, according to the American Lung Association. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America has consistently ranked Allentown as the asthma capital of the U.S. This dirty, warmer air is due mainly to the burning of fossil fuels that spew out particulate matter and carbon dioxide.
In our careers has teachers we have seen one second-grade student, Ellen, who suffered terribly from asthma. Her desk was frequently empty. Her life revolved around her condition. Another student, Chris, a third grader, experienced isolation while sitting on the sidelines in gym class. He was excluded from outdoor recess games. His acute asthma prevented him from joining in active play with his classmates.
Brushfires are on the rise, too. Due to warming temperatures, the lack of rain is increasing the chances for wildfires to occur. In November 2024, a brushfire on Blue Mountain spread to almost 600 acres near Lehigh Gap in Carbon County, and in March 2025 another 150 acres were on fire in Lehigh Township. Very recently, a large brushfire on Bear Mountain in Carbon County burned at least 560 acres. Brushfires lead to increased air pollution, as well as contributing to childhood trauma.
Flooding in the Lehigh Valley is another consequence of global warming. It is the most frequent and costly of all hazards in Pennsylvania, according to Northampton County Emergency Management Services. Rainfall events are becoming more intense and sudden because of a simple law of physics. As the temperature rises, warmer air holds more moisture leading to heavier rains and flooding.
In July of 2023, a summer storm dropped six inches of rain in two hours in Bucks County. Seven people were killed including a 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister.
A 2023 report in Frontiers Public Health states that immediately after a flood, acute stress symptoms may occur in adolescents and can lead to chronic conditions. Common problems include sleep disturbances, difficulty in concentration and post-traumatic stress symptoms and disorders.
Another hazard of our warming atmosphere is Lyme disease from ticks. Many tick bites occur in backyards, and it’s not unusual for ticks to be more active year-round now because climate change leads to milder winters, and ticks don’t become dormant as they usually do. The temperature only needs to be warmer than 45 degrees for ticks to remain active. Children have the highest incidence of Lyme disease in the U.S.
Asthma, wildfires, flooding and ticks all affect children’s health. Though parents and caregivers do all they can to help protect our children, they have no control over these impacts of global warming. It’s essential that we take action to address a warming planet now.
We need legislative action. We need our members of Congress to think of our children’s future by passing laws that slow rising temperatures by reducing particulate matter and carbon dioxide emissions. We need laws to help us reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Fossil fuel companies spend a lot of money to lobby Congress, so we need to counteract that with our voices. Contact U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie and Sens. McCormick and Fetterman to urge them to take action to protect our children’s health by curbing global warming.
We hope that our children and grandchildren don’t have to exist in a living space that holds the threat of severe weather events and trauma, and can instead live with clean air in a stable home environment, on a stable planet.
This is a contributed opinion column. Martha Christine and Jessie Snyder are both retired educators and members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby-Lehigh Valley. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual authors, and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. Do you have a perspective to share? Learn more about how we handle guest opinion submissions at themorningcall.com/opinions.
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