Climate change adds heat stress month for

A new global analysis reveals that 61 percent of children in India, or 145 million, are now exposed to at least one additional month of dangerous heat stress every year because of climate change. The study, published in the journal Science Advances and led by researchers at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, is the first to quantify how heat exposure directly linked to climate change affects different age groups worldwide.

This research focuses specifically on humid heat, which poses a greater health threat than dry heat. Humid heat impedes the body's natural cooling mechanism of sweating, leading to dangerous levels of heat stress that can disrupt normal bodily functions, worsen existing illnesses, and cause severe complications like heatstroke, dehydration, and organ failure.

Global exposure and regional impact

Globally, the study estimates that up to 560 million children aged zero to nine, representing 43 percent of all children in that age group, are enduring at least one extra month of heat stress annually due to human induced climate change. The exposure for young children outpaces that of any other age group. It is nearly triple the 190 million people, or 30 percent, aged 60 to 69 who face this additional health threat.

Climate change is increasing humid heat most severely in tropical regions and poorer countries, where populations tend to be younger. Consequently, more children are affected. South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Africa are identified as the regions with the highest number of children exposed to dangerous heat stress today.

Disproportionate risk for children

Lead author Rosa Pietroiusti, a PhD researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, stated that climate change is already causing hundreds of millions of children to suffer from dangerous heat worldwide, posing severe risks to their health. "Children in developing countries face a disproportionate exposure to climate extremes now and into the future, despite contributing the least to historical greenhouse gas emissions," Pietroiusti said. She added that poverty, inadequate housing, limited access to cooling, and overstretched health care systems leave many children with few ways to protect themselves.

The study also provides projections for future exposure under different global warming scenarios. The number of children worldwide affected by an additional month of dangerous heat is expected to rise to 620 million, or 49 percent of all children, under a 1.5 degrees Celsius warming scenario. That figure increases to 650 million children, or 59 percent, under a 2 degrees Celsius warming scenario.

Projections for India's children

The future outlook for India is particularly stark. Under a global warming scenario of 1.5 degrees Celsius, 166 million children in India, or 74 percent, are projected to experience at least one additional month of heat stress per year. Should global warming reach 2 degrees Celsius, the figure could climb to 169 million children, representing 96 percent of the country's child population. The research further found that climate change has already doubled the number of children aged up to nine exposed to at least five total months of dangerous heat stress per year globally, from 59 million to 118 million.