As many as 560 million children are already living through at least one extra month of dangerous heat every year because of climate change, a threat that puts them at serious health risk.
Children today are exposed to significantly more heat stress days per year than previous generations — a burden that is expected to increase, according to a new study.
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Researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel found that younger populations face disproportionate health risks, including direct physiological strain and indirect threats like food and water insecurity.
The findings, published in the Science Advances journal, showed that up to 560 million children aged 0-9 years old are living through at least one additional month of heat stress every year due to human-induced climate change.
“Climate change is already causing hundreds of millions of children to suffer from dangerous heat worldwide, posing severe risks to their health,” said Rosa Pietroiusti, lead author of the study.
“At the same time, poverty, inadequate housing, limited access to cooling, and overstretched healthcare systems leave many children with few ways to protect themselves from the heat.”
Children are more vulnerable
Vulnerability to heat stress varies with age, the researchers noted, with older adults, newborns and young children being particularly at risk.
“Children are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts and will face intensifying effects of climate change during their lifetimes,” the authors wrote.
The study found that children’s exposure outpaces that of any other age group, nearly tripling the 190 million people aged 60-69 who experience this additional health threat.
Excessive heat is dangerous for the body as it hinders its ability to thermoregulate, aggravates existing health conditions and increases the risk of heatstroke, kidney failure and lung damage.
In children, the impact is even greater when they are undergoing physical development and have lower capacity for body temperature regulation. They sweat less per kilogram of body weight and have a higher metabolic rate, causing them to heat up more quickly during periods of extreme heat.
According to the researchers, there are multiple factors that increase children’s exposure to dangerous heat.
The largest increases in humid heat caused by climate change are occurring in tropical regions and poorer countries with younger populations — South Asia, Southeast Asia and West Africa — which have the highest number of children exposed to dangerous heat stress today.
They also noted that children in the worst-affected areas are likely to be more socioeconomically vulnerable, and affected by heat through both direct pathways such as heat strain and indirect pathways, including the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, disrupted child feeding practices and complications at birth.
A worrying picture for the future
According to temperature projections, the researchers found that children will remain disproportionately exposed to heat stress, even as global populations age.
In a scenario in which the world is 1.5°C warmer, an estimated 620 million children aged 0-9 would experience at least one additional month of heat stress per year, and 390 million are projected to experience at least five total months of heat stress.
If the temperature increases reach 2.0°C, estimates project 650 million children facing
one additional month of heat stress per year, and 420 million at least five total months of heat stress.
