The climate crisis is damaging the health of fetuses (胎儿), babies and infants across the world, six new studies have found.

Scientists discovered increased heat was linked to fast weight gain in babies, which increases the risk of    1    in later life. Higher temperatures were also linked to premature birth, which can have lifelong health effects, and to increased hospital    2    of young children.

The studies,    3    in a special issue of the journal Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, spanned the globe from the US to Denmark, Israel and Australia.

“From the very    4    , from preconception, through early childhood into adolescence, we’re starting to see important    5    of climate hazards on health,” said Prof Gregory Wellenius, who edited the issue with Amelia Wesselink, both at the Boston University school of public health, in the US.

The link between heat and rapid    6    gain in the first year of life was found by scientists in Israel. They analysed 200,000 births and found that babies exposed to the highest 20% of night-time temperatures had a 5% higher risk of fast weight gain.

    7    , 18% of children are now overweight or obese. A possible mechanism for the rapid infant weight gain is that    8    fat is burned to maintain body temperature when the ambient temperature is higher.

Hotter temperatures also increased the number of admissions of young children to emergency departments in New York City, another new study found. The scientists looked at 2.5m admissions over eight years and found that a 7℃    9    in maximum temperature led to a 2.4% increase in admissions in under-fives. Young children lose proportionally more fluids than adults and their ability to regulate their body temperature is immature, the researchers said.

The burning of fossil fuels drives the climate crisis but also causes air pollution and a new study in Denmark assessed the impact of dirty air on 10,000 couples trying to conceive naturally. It found that increases in particle pollution of a few units during a menstrual cycle led to a decrease in conception of about 8%.

Wellenius said an important aspect of the studies was that they showed that    10    people often suffered the worst effects, for example people of colour and those on low incomes who did not have air conditioning or lived in areas with higher air pollution. “This is absolutely a health equity and justice issue,” he said.

In a recent interview, Mayor Janine Fraser spoke about the influence of the media. She said the increase in Internet news and     1     microchanneling /microblogging sites gives us a variety of opinions and views.

According to Mayor Fraser, “I was sent an email recently from a citizen who was     2     witness/witnessing to a police officer breaking the law. The policerman threatened this person with a fine for speeding. The person used his /her mobile phone to secretly record and     3     upload/download this conversation to a news site. Thanks to this, we had evidence to punish this policeman. Another great example was a local worker who used a blog to     4     outline /output how the     5     component/corporation he worked for was illegally polluting the environment.” On the negative side, she did mention that the ability for     6     advertising /advertisements companies to monitor people through website usage and comments is a cause for concern.

“The Internet is an     7     interactive/interactively tool that works in both ways. People should be aware that when they use the Internet they are     8     broadcaster/broadcasting their preferences to lots of different companies. We need to be cautious and protect ourselves. ”