<
https://www.futurity.org/wildfire-childrens-health-learning-education-2807962-2/>
"When wildfire smoke pollutes the air in schoolyards and classrooms, it hurts
not only children’s health but also their ability to learn and possibly their
future earning power, according to a new study.
The analysis, published in
Nature Sustainability, draws on eight years of
standardized test scores from nearly 11,700 public school districts across six
grades, as well as estimates of daily smoke exposure derived from satellite
measurements.
The researchers found test scores in English language arts and math dropped
significantly during school years even at low levels of smoke exposure, and
that test-score impacts grew as students’ smoke exposure worsened.
The impact on test scores nearly doubled when students were exposed to heavy
smoke during the school day compared to the weekend. Underscoring previous
studies suggesting that air pollution impacts are particularly harmful for
younger students, the study also revealed greater impacts for third to fifth
graders compared to sixth to eighth graders.
“Previous research suggests that the natural barriers in their lungs are still
developing and they have a higher rate of breathing relative to their body
size,” says lead study author Jeff Wen, a PhD student in Earth system science
at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
“This means that younger children may be more prone to smoke impacting their
cognition in direct and indirect ways, such as increased asthma attacks that
disrupt learning and lead to more school absences.”"
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
