Advertisment

UNICEF: More than two billion children will witness frequent and prolonged heat waves by 2050

The report titled, “The coldest year of the rest of their lives”, which was released on Tuesday, shows how by 2050 more than two billion children will be exposed to “more frequent, longer lasting, and more severe” heatwaves.

UNICEF: More than two billion children will witness frequent and prolonged heat waves by 2050

UNICEF Photograph:(Reuters)

New York, US

In a new report, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) indicated that in the next 28 years climate change-induced heat waves will become an unavoidable hazard and are set to affect virtually every child on earth. Reportedly, today it affects at least half a billion young people. 

Advertisment

The report titled, “The coldest year of the rest of their lives”, which was released on Tuesday, shows how by 2050 more than two billion children will be exposed to “more frequent, longer lasting, and more severe” heatwaves. It also underlines that young children face a greater risk when compared to adults in an extreme heat event. 

According to UNICEF, at least 559 million children will witness at least four to five dangerous heat waves per year but this number is expected to reach more than two billion children by 2050 even if we manage to keep the temperature 1.7 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels. They have also attributed this to how a young person is less able to regulate their body temperature during such an event. 

ALSO READ: Report: Fires, heat waves cause 'climate anxiety' in youth

Advertisment

This inability also makes them more vulnerable to health issues including, chronic respiratory conditions, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases said the report. Furthermore, intense heat can lead to drought which would also hinder access to clean drinking water and lead to food insecurity and consequently stunt development in children and force families to migrate. 

According to Vanessa Nakate, UNICEF’s goodwill ambassador, “The more frequent, longer lasting and more severe heat waves children are exposed to, the greater the impacts on health, safety, nutrition, education, access to water and future livelihoods.” The climate activist also noted how the children, “who are least responsible for climate change are bearing its biggest costs”. 

Nakate added, “Unless world leaders at Cop27 take action to correct the course we are on, heatwaves will become even harsher than they are already destined to be.” This report also comes ahead of the UN Cop 27 which is set to take place on November 6. 

Advertisment

ALSO WATCH: WION Climate Tracker | UN warns: Heat waves to grow deadlier, will make places uninhabitable

“The climate crisis is a child rights crisis”, said Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, giving the examples of wildfires and heat waves swept through India, Europe, and North America earlier this year she said that climate change is already taking a “devastating toll on children’s lives and futures.”  

Therefore, the report has called on countries and governments from across the world for – protecting children from climate devastation by adapting social services; preparing children to live in a climate-changed world; prioritizing children and young people in climate finance and resources; preventing a climate catastrophe by drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and keep 1.5 degrees Celsius alive.

(With inputs from agencies)

Child rights climate change heat waves UN UNICEF
Advertisment
Related Articles
Advertisment