• How Paris Agreement can save 38m extreme heats
By Doris Obinna
Climate change is the defining crisis of our time and it is happening even more quickly than we feared. Children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events, pollution, and disease. Millions of children are already facing increased risks from climate-related disasters, and their health and development can be severely impacted by these changes.
Children are more prone to heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses in extreme temperatures, and they are also more susceptible to air pollution and respiratory illnesses. Increased exposure to contaminated water and food can lead to waterborne diseases and malnutrition.
Extreme weather events and displacement can cause psychological distress and mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress
At just five years old, children across the globe should be learning, playing, and dreaming of their futures. But for millions, their earliest years are already marred by the growing threat of extreme heat; a peril that scientists now say could be avoided for tens of millions if urgent climate action is taken.
A new report by Save the Children International (SCI) and researchers at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) has revealed that up to 38 million children could be spared a lifetime of dangerous exposure to extreme heat if global leaders meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by 2100.
The study, released ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, highlights the stark contrast between current climate trajectories and the outcomes possible with stronger climate action. Under present commitments, which would result in a 2.7°C rise above pre-industrial levels, approximately 100 million of the 120 million children born in 2020, around 83 per cent are expected to face unprecedented lifetime exposure to extreme heat.
However, limiting warming to 1.5°C would reduce this number to 62 million, thereby protecting 38 million young lives from the devastating consequences of climate-induced heat waves.
The report, titled; “Born into the Climate Crisis 2: An Unprecedented Life – Protecting Children’s Rights in a Changing Climate,” warns that extreme heat poses a lethal risk to children, severely affecting their physical and mental health, food and water access, and educational opportunities. Heat waves have already been linked to school closures, food insecurity, and increased disease prevalence.
Chief Executive Officer, SCI, Inger Ashing, said: “Dangerous heat that puts their health and learning at risk; cyclones that batter their homes and schools; creeping droughts that shrivel up crops and shrink what’s on their plates.
This new research shows there is still hope, but only if we act urgently and ambitiously to limit warming to 1.5°C and put children at the heart of climate action.
“Save the Children is calling for an urgent phase-out of fossil fuels, the removal of fossil fuel subsidies, increased climate finance, child-centered adaptation strategies, and the active involvement of children in shaping climate responses. The organization operates in around 110 countries, helping children and communities to adapt to and recover from the impacts of climate change.
“The report serves as a critical reminder that the choices made today will define the futures of millions of children tomorrow.”
Global threat
“But we are far from powerless in the face of this global threat. Nigeria is highly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, facing issues like rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and increasing threats to livelihoods and food security.
“These impacts include more frequent and intense heat waves, increased rainfall variability, and rising sea levels leading to coastal erosion and flooding. The country’s agricultural sector, which is crucial for many Nigerians, is also severely affected by changing rainfall patterns and drought.
“Nigeria, however, has experienced rising temperature, with some areas reaching over 400C, leading to heatstroke, dehydration, and respiratory illnesses, particularly among vulnerable population.”
Health risk
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), climate change poses significant risks to human health through various pathways. These changes can affect both physical and mental health, leading to a range of health issues. The risks includes:
“Increased risk of extreme heat: Climate change is causing more frequent and intense heatwaves, which can lead to heatstroke, heat exhaustion, and other heat-related illnesses. Extreme heat can also exacerbate existing health conditions, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Vulnerable populations, like the elderly and children, are particularly susceptible to the harmful effects of heat.
“Climate change can alter the distribution and seasonality of vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever, increasing the risk of outbreaks in previously unaffected areas. Changing rainfall patterns can lead to increased risks of waterborne diseases and foodborne illnesses. Climate change can also disrupt ecosystems, leading to increased zoonotic diseases (diseases transmitted from animals to humans).
“Also, changing temperature and rainfall patterns can negatively impact crop yields and food production, leading to food insecurity and malnutrition i.e, disrupted food systems can also affect access to healthy and nutritious foods, particularly in vulnerable communities; warmer temperatures and shifting weather patterns can worsen air quality, leading to increases in ground-level ozone and particulate matter.
“Climate change-related disasters, such as floods and wildfires, can cause stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues, the long-term effects of climate change, such as food insecurity and displacement, can also take a toll on mental health.”
Child’s rights crisis
According to the United Nations, climate change is creating a water crisis, a health crisis an education crisis a protection crisis and a participation crisis.
It noted that climate crisis is threatening children’s very survival. “In all these ways, it is infringing on children’s rights, as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. According to the IPCC, global greenhouse gas emissions need to be halved by 2030 and cut to zero by 2050 to avoid the worse impacts, but most countries are not on track to meet these targets. “Improving the resiliency of services that children need will be necessary no matter what the future holds: even if global emissions stopped today, global temperatures would continue to increase, hurting those most vulnerable first and foremost. We need to accelerate actions that protect children from impacts, as well as reduce emissions, urgently.
“There are many promising solutions to draw from including nature-based solutions. One of the most sustainable solutions is the transition towards an economic model, which decouples economic growth from fossil fuel consumption and thus reduces emissions to safe levels.
“Another is consulting directly with children themselves, children and young people have important ideas about the world they want and need to thrive. Only with such truly transformative action will we bequeath children a liveable planet.”
Impacts of climate change
Also, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNIUCEF) stated: “Globally, approximately one billion children, nearly half of the world’s children, live in countries that are at and extremely high-risk’ from the impacts of climate change, according to the CCRI.
“These children face a deadly combination of exposure to multiple shocks with high vulnerability resulting from a lack of essential services. The survival of these children is at imminent threat from the impacts of climate change. Addressing the climate crisis requires every part of society to act. Governments need to ensure that environmental policies are child-sensitive.
“Businesses must ensure their practices are protective of the natural environment on which children depend. Greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollutants must be reduced dramatically. Services for children need to incorporate climate resilience and environmental sustainability. Schools need to be educating for green skills. And children and young people need to be recognised and listened to as agents of change.”