Learn bits
Geography, Disaster Management, Index & Reports
Mahesh

27/10/22 22:03 PM IST

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

In News 
  • United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) recently released a report titled “The coldest year of the rest of their lives”.
Key Findings 
  • For the first time, the UNICEF provided estimates on how many children will be exposed to 4 measures of heatwaves (High heatwave frequency, High heatwave duration, High heatwave severity and Extreme high temperatures) by 2050.
  • The report made assessment based on “low greenhouse gas emission scenario” (1.7°C warming) and “very high greenhouse gas emission scenario” (2.4°C warming).
  • According to the report, climate change-induced heat waves will become an unavoidable hazard and affect every child on Earth.
  • Around 624 million children are currently exposed to one of the three other high heat measures (high heatwave duration, high heatwave duration, or extreme high temperatures).
  • Currently, at least 559 million children experience four to five dangerous heat waves each year. This figure is expected to surpass 2 billion by 2050 even if the global temperature is maintained at 1.7°C above the pre-industrial levels (low greenhouse gas emission scenario)
  • The report highlighted that children are more vulnerable to extreme heat events than adults.
  • Children in northern regions will experience the most dramatic increase in heat wave severity by 2050.
  • Nearly 50 per cent of children in Africa and Asia will be continuously exposed to extremely high temperatures.
  • These heat waves will make it difficult for young people to regulate their body temperature, making them vulnerable to health issues like chronic respiratory conditions, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases.
Source- Indian Express

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 May

Key objectives of caste count

'The Union Cabinet has decided that the next Census will include questions on caste to its enumeration of India’s population, for the first time in almost a century. ' T

Read More

05 May

2 new genome-edited rice varieties

'Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently released two genome-edited varieties of rice, the first achievement of its kind in the country.' These two varieties, which

Read More

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps