WE’VE all heard about climate change and global warming and how it’s the biggest threat to our precious planet.
But a new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has thrown fresh concern on what Earth’s rising temperatures mean for children. The report, titled The Coldest Year of the Rest of Their Lives, says that one in four children globally are already affected by heatwaves caused by climate change – and by the year 2050, almost every child in every part of the world will experience heatwaves more frequently.
“While the full force of the climate crisis will take some time to materialise, for heatwaves it’s just around the corner and looking incredibly grim,” says Nicholas Rees, a Unicef environment and climate expert.
Currently 559 million children are exposed to extreme heatwaves and things are only going to get worse. The effects of hotter temperatures increase the risk of illness in children and raises the threat of hunger as drought is becoming more prevalent, causing crops to dry up and animals to die.
