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New research by Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) shows that globally up to 560 million children aged 0 to 9 years old (43% of all children in this age group) are living through at least one additional month (30 or more days) of heat stress per year due to human-induced climate change. This exposure outpaces any other age group and is nearly triple the 190 million people (30%) aged 60-69 experiencing this additional health threat. Children are therefore already facing disproportionately high levels of dangerous humid heat caused by human-induced climate change, with exposure expected to grow under further warming. Under projected climate change scenarios of 1.5°C and 2°C of global warming, which are extremely likely to be breached if countries continue current policies, the number of children affected by an additional month of dangerous heat is expected to increase to 620 million (49%) and 650 million (59%) children aged 0-9, respectively. The study, published today in Science Advances by an international team of researchers led by the VUB, is the first-ever analysis to quantify how heat exposure directly linked to climate change affects different age groups globally, both now and in the near future. The researchers combined population data with state-of-the-art climate models and attribution science that identifies the role of climate change in extreme weather events. The cutting-edge study highlights that the health risks of climate change are already here today and are unequally distributed across generations and geographies.
