The 101 Ways in which climate change will hurt your children
And what we can do today to prevent that
By Loic Tchinda |Version en français
Two hours. That’s the time it took me to complete the short and yet eye-opening e-learning course on Children and Climate Change provided by UN CC:e-Learn platform.Two hours of active engagement with the course content made me realise that today’s indolence will be paid for by the health and survival of my unborn children. These two hours have totally changed my views on the implications of climate change for future generations.
When I took on writing this blog post, my fear was that I would have to provide you with a bunch of statistics. Instead I decided to write about what I have learned by completing the UN CC:Learn e-course. I will also share some personal thoughts. So, let’s start.
The overall earth’s temperature is rising. Glaciers are shrinking. The sea level is rising. Weather has become more extreme, both hot and cold — as has rainfall and drought in different parts of the world. Scientists are unanimous that we are responsible for this change: the rise in greenhouse gases, mostly from our use of fossil fuels and from deforestation, has led to changes we are seeing.
This isn’t natural. WE ARE DOING THIS. But the future generations will suffer the most. Let’s see how.
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Did you know that there are 2.3 billion children in the world, representing 30% of the world’s population, and this number is increasing? This makes them the largest group of people affected by climate change. Children are also more vulnerable than adults to its harmful effects.
Page 59 of a report used by UNICEF to advocate for meaningful climate action commitments by governments in Paris (“Unless We Act Now — the Impact of Climate Change on Children”), the organization shows areas that are projected to be most impacted by rising temperatures under different mitigation models and the amount of children that live in these high-impact areas. This page summarises the stakes of Climate Change for our children.
But how will climate change impact our children?
Spread infectious diseases
Infectious diseases represent the largest share of the burden of childhood disease and death attributed to climate change. Children’s immature immune systems make them more susceptible to infectious disease pathogens due to crop and water contamination from storms and floods, as well as to vector-borne diseases (e.g., malaria and dengue fever) which are increasing in certain regions due to climate change. Illnesses attributed to salmonella, a food-borne infectious disease, also have risen and will accrue with higher temperatures across much of continental Europe.
Rise of weather related disasters
Weather-related disasters (floods, droughts, cyclones, hurricanes), which have increased in frequency and intensity as a result of climate change, have directly affected an estimated 66.5 million children worldwide, 600,000 of whom died every year from 1990 to 2000. The number of children affected is predicted to more than double, rising to 175 million a year in the next decade. Children are highly vulnerable both to physical trauma, stress, drowning and displacement due to floods and to famines associated with drought. Higher rates of anxiety and depression have been found among children affected by this disaster.
Incidence on health
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 88 percent of the existing global burden of disease due to climate change occurs in children less than five years of age. Although children everywhere are affected, most of the impact is felt in populations of low socioeconomic status, squarely raising the issue of environmental justice. The impacts will continue to grow under the projected trajectory of climate change and fossil fuel emissions.
Food insecurity
Changing temperatures and rain patterns, particularly droughts, have detrimental effects on farmers and can cause food insecurity. Unfavourable weather will lower crop yields and decimate livestock. This means that income goes down for farmers and their families, sending the future generations into further into poverty. It can also cause massive food shortages, increasing food prices, and even lead to famine.
Forced Migration
As a result of the above stated factors, people can be forced to leave the affected areas, even for long periods of time. Children separated from their families can be unprotected and exposed to exploitation, abuse and trafficking.
We don’t want any of this for our children. Which is why we need to act now. Wondering what you can do to avoid this terrible situation? There’s so much that each and every one of us can do, starting today. We can:
- Get educated on climate change issues.
- Include children in the climate change discourse. Talk climate with our children at home.
- Reduce our energy consumption and waste — as individuals, families, communities and societies.
- Plant a tree.
- Work to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas — and increase our use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
- Create and strengthen systems that can help keep us safe from the effects of climate change, such as early warning systems for extreme weather, and ways to keep people safe during extreme weather and natural disasters.
- Advocate for local, national and international policies that decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
If you just read this blogpost, you must remember that a hot world is a hungry world. My, Your, Our children deserve a brighter future on planet Earth.
How are you feeling after reading this blog post? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section and Facebook or Twitter; we’d like to hear from you!
About UN CC:Learn
UN CC:Learn is a partnership of more than 30 multilateral organizations supporting countries to design and implement systematic, recurrent and results-oriented climate change learning. Through its engagement at the national and global levels, UN CC:Learn contributes to the implementation of climate change training, education and public awareness-raising.
