Nearly half of the world\u2019s children, around 1.1 billion, are exposed to at least three overlapping climate hazards, according to a new UNICEF report published Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The report, titled *Climate Risks for Children 2026*, highlights the growing scale of children climate risks as extreme weather events intensify worldwide.<\/p>\n
UNICEF identified drought, extreme heat exceeding 35\u00b0C, and heatwaves as the most common climate-related threats facing children.<\/p>\n
The agency noted that nearly all children globally are exposed to at least one climate hazard, while hundreds of millions face multiple risks simultaneously.<\/p>\n
According to the report:<\/p>\n
– 300 million children live in areas affected by drought, extreme heat, and heatwaves at the same time.<\/p>\n
– Over 115 million children face a combination of drought, extreme heat, and tropical cyclones.<\/p>\n
UNICEF emphasized that children are biologically more vulnerable to climate impacts than adults.<\/p>\n
Their bodies heat up faster, they sweat less efficiently, and they breathe more rapidly. They also require more food and water relative to their body weight.<\/p>\n
The report added that children have lower survival rates during extreme weather events, further increasing their exposure to climate-related health risks.<\/p>\n
The Sahel region in Africa is among the most severely affected areas, with more than 4 million children exposed simultaneously to extreme heat, heatwaves, and sand and dust storms.<\/p>\n
In Asia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan are identified as particularly vulnerable due to recurring floods, cyclones, and prolonged heatwaves.<\/p>\n
The report assessed children\u2019s exposure to eight major climate hazards, including:<\/p>\n
– Drought<\/p>\n
– Extreme heat<\/p>\n
– Heatwaves<\/p>\n
– Wildfires<\/p>\n
– Coastal floods<\/p>\n
– River floods<\/p>\n
– Sand and dust storms<\/p>\n
– Tropical cyclones<\/p>\n
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stated that the climate risk mapping included in the report identifies where risks occur and how severe they are.<\/p>\n
She said this information can help governments and decision-makers improve planning and invest more effectively in essential services such as healthcare, water systems, and child protection.<\/p>\n
UNICEF stressed that rapid detection, improved infrastructure, and community engagement are essential to protecting children from worsening climate impacts.<\/p>\n
The UNICEF report underscores the urgent reality of children climate risks, with 1.1 billion children facing overlapping environmental threats.<\/p>\n
As climate-related hazards intensify, the report calls for immediate global action to strengthen resilience, improve services, and protect vulnerable populations, particularly children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nearly half of the world\u2019s children, around 1.1 billion, are exposed to at least three overlapping climate hazards, according to a new UNICEF report published Tuesday. The report, titled *Climate Risks for Children 2026*, highlights the growing scale of children climate risks as extreme weather events intensify worldwide. Extreme Heat and Drought Among Top Threats […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"7","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"left-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34745"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34749,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34745\/revisions\/34749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}