2024-08-14 01:01:20
One in five children worldwide now lives in areas with at least twice as many extremely hot days as in the 1960s, according to a study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The world’s 466 million children now spend twice as many days with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius in their homes as their grandparents did during their childhood, according to an assessment released by UNICEF on Wednesday.
According to the study, in West and Central Africa alone, 123 million children (39%) experience average temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius for a third of the year. In Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sudan, more than half of children are affected.
An additional 48 million children in Latin America and the Caribbean live in areas with more than double the number of hot days compared to the 1960s, according to the analysis. Aggregated temperature data formed the basis of the study, according to UNICEF.
“Extreme heat is increasing, affecting children’s health, well-being and daily lives,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. The stress caused by extreme heat has been linked to complications in pregnancy but also increases the risk of heatstroke or heatstroke risk. There is also evidence that high temperatures can affect children’s neurodevelopment and mental health.
Russell called on the government to take swift action. Leaders who must present new national climate action plans in the coming months in line with the Paris Agreement can “do so with ambition and awareness that today’s children and future generations must live in the world they leave behind”.
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