A report published Wednesday in medical journal The Lancet warns that the human-caused climate crisis is already disproportionately affecting children worldwide and “will define the health profile of current and future generations” if left unabated.
“With warming temperatures, a child born today faces a future where their health and well-being will be increasingly threatened.”
—Dr. Renee N. Salas, Harvard
The report is a project of The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change, an international, multidisciplinary collaboration between academic institutions that formed four years ago and releases annual reports.
Nick Watts, executive director of The Lancet Countdown, said on a call with reporters: “To the extent that we’re asking, well, how is it different from before to the life of a child born today? That child now is being born for the first time into a world where their health will be affected at every single stage of their life by a changing climate.”
Watts explained in a statement that “children are particularly vulnerable to the health risks of a changing climate” because “their bodies and immune systems are still developing, leaving them more susceptible to disease and environmental pollutants.”
“The damage done in early childhood is persistent and pervasive, with health consequences lasting for a lifetime,” he added. “Without immediate action from all countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, gains in well-being and life expectancy will be compromised.”
Despite some efforts around the world to transition away from fossil fuels and curb greenhouse gas emissions, “the current progress is inadequate,” says the new report. “Bold new approaches to policymaking, research, and business are needed in order to change course. An unprecedented challenge demands an unprecedented response, and it will take the work of the 7.5 billion people currently alive to ensure that the health of a child born today is not defined by a changing climate.”
Alongside the report, The Lancet released a short video detailing the report’s key findings and recommendations:
“There are many paths we can take, from a world of extremes and uncertainty, where a child has to fight simply to survive, to an environment that creates the conditions that allows them to thrive,” the video says. “If we continue down our current path, a child born today will live through a world that is over 4°C warmer, with a changing environment threatening the food they eat, the air they breathe, and the communities they grow up in.”
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