460 Million Children in South Asia face extreme heat: UN

International Desk

Published: 07 Aug 2023, 05:35 pm

Photo: Collected

Photo: Collected

The United Nations cautioned on Monday that as the effects of climate change worsen, three-quarters of youngsters in South Asia are already experiencing dangerously high temperatures, the highest percentage worldwide.

In comparison to a third of children worldwide, 460 million children, or 76 percent, live in South Asia where excessive heat is a common occurrence.

According to Sanjay Wijesekera, regional director for Unicef in South Asia, "with the world at global boiling, the data clearly show that the lives and well-being of millions of children across South Asia are increasingly threatened by heat waves and high temperatures."

The UN warns children in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives and Pakistan are at "extremely high risk" of the impacts of climate change, defining extreme high temperatures as 83 or more days in a year over 35 degree Celsius (95 degree Fahrenheit).

Children are less able to swiftly adjust to temperature fluctuations and expel extra heat from their bodies.

According to scientists, the globe will need to adjust to the heat and other effects already brought on by emissions, and carbon pollution must be drastically reduced this decade to prevent things from getting worse.

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