Childhood Trauma
– March 31 2026
What are E-ACEs? Understanding how Environmental Adverse Childhood Experiences shape a child’s life
Imagine a newborn baby who has lost everything—his home, his safety, his parents—in a devastating earthquake. Or a child who has only known hunger because drought destroyed her community’s crops. These children are experiencing trauma—and it’s quietly reshaping their developing brains.
Children under five continue to face 90% of all climate-related health risks. But the impact of climate shocks on children goes far deeper than just physical health.
Environmental stressors—like pollution, floods, drought and more—are known as Environmental Adverse Childhood Experiences (or E-ACEs): A growing category of childhood trauma that changes a child’s developing brain and affects the trajectory of their lifelong health.
But by understanding E-ACEs and their effects, we can promote healing, build resilience and protect future generations from experiencing the long-term harms caused by childhood trauma.
What are ACEs?
Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, are traumatic events that occur in a child’s life before they turn 18. Typically categorized into three main groups—abuse, neglect and household dysfunction—ACEs threaten the well-being of children in every country around the world.
Examples of ACEs include:
— Experiencing physical, sexual or emotional abuse
— Experiencing physical or emotional neglect
— Witnessing substance use at home
— Loss of a friend or family member
— Separation from parental figures (ex. divorce, incarceration, death, abandonment)
— Experiencing homelessness or moving frequently
— Food insecurity
— Lack of access to health care
— Witnessing violence in the home, community or country
ACEs trigger what researchers call toxic stress—the prolonged or repeated activation of the body’s stress response system. Without the presence of a loving, trusted adult to help a child regulate this response, healthy brain and body development are severely disrupted.
Learn more about how childhood trauma shapes lifelong health.
What are E-ACEs?
Environmental Adverse Childhood Experiences are climate-driven stressors that trigger the same toxic stress as traditional ACEs—but are rooted in environmental breakdown.
As the climate crisis intensifies, E-ACEs are becoming one of the most urgent and under-recognized threats to children’s well-being worldwide.
Examples of E-ACEs include:
— Climate-related disasters, like floods, wildfires, heatwaves and droughts.
— Extreme heat and air pollution, which increase illnesses, premature births and impair healthy cognitive development.
— Food and water insecurity, which lead to malnutrition and chronic illnesses.
— Displacement and migration from losing homes, livelihoods, schools or entire communities from climate-related disasters.
Children experiencing poverty or who lost parental care are often the most vulnerable, facing multiple ACEs simultaneously without the support they need to cope.
How Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) can help children heal from E-ACEs
Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) include the safe, stable and nurturing relationships a child forms with family, friends, and others in their community.
These relationships build resiliency, encourage healthy brain development and alleviate the effects of toxic stress—even for children who have experienced multiple ACEs or E-ACEs.
And research continues to highlight that PCEs have a multiplying effect. The more positive experiences a child has, the better their adult mental and physical health is likely to be.
At SOS Children's Villages, providing Positive Childhood Experiences is at the heart of everything we do. For children without parental care or at risk of losing it, our family-based model ensures that every child has the stable, loving relationships they need to heal, grow and thrive—no matter what the state of the world around them.
And with our holistic family-strengthening program and climate-smart initiatives, we help prevent childhood trauma, including E-ACEs, before they occur.
How you can help ensure every child inherits a livable world
The climate crisis is a child protection crisis. But children don't have to face it alone.
When you support SOS Children's Villages, you help ensure that vulnerable children—including those facing E-ACEs—have the loving families, stable homes and long-term support they need to heal from trauma and build brighter, more resilient futures.
Support this work