Nishi Kumar is working as an intern at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF throughout the Fall. This is her third post for Fieldnotes, marking Blog Action Day 2009.
“Go Green” has become a popular catch-phrase over the last few years, with campaigns encouraging everything from recycling to driving electric cars to eating organic chickens. We all know that reducing our carbon footprint is important for future generations. What you may not know is that climate change is about more than just ensuring the future of the planet’s resources—it is a very present and real danger to millions of those most vulnerable to its harmful effects: the world’s children.
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| © UNICEF/BANA2007-00137/Shehzad Noorani |
| A young boy jumps over a puddle of chemical waste in a dumpsite outside his home near the Buriganga river in Dhaka, Bangladesh. |
Most experts agree that there is a significant and rapid change occurring in earth’s climate. Temperatures and sea levels are rising, the polar ice cap is melting and large-scale natural disasters are becoming more frequent. Unfairly, developing countries are affected more by climate change than the industrialized nations that have larger carbon footprints. The effects of global warming—increased rainfall, weather extremes, natural disasters, droughts and floods—decrease crop yields and kill livestock in these countries, making children and their families the victims of hunger, malnutrition and even starvation.
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| © UNICEF/NYHQ2007-2435/Pierre Holtz | |
| A girl fills a tub with dirty water she has just drawn from a well in the town of Boromata, Central African Republic. |
When droughts and pollution harm local water sources, children are subject to dehydration and diseases. According to a UNICEF 2007 report, 2.4% of diarrhea cases and 6% of malaria cases can be directly attributed to climate change. Malaria is resurging in the temperate regions of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan due to changing rainfall patterns. The same UNICEF report estimates that, by 2016, deaths from pollution-induced asthma—the most common chronic disease among children—are expected to increase by 20%. By 2020, 75 million Africans will not have reliable access to safe water sources. And the economic toll of climate change means children are less likely to have access to health care, education and healthy development.
Natural disasters are increasing at an alarming rate, from an average of twelve per year in the 1950s to 350 per year in 2004, and experts believe climate change is a contributing factor here, too. The large-scale and pervasive effects of disasters can be seen most recently in Indonesia, Samoa and the Philippines. During these times, children are most vulnerable to the diseases, injuries, malnutrition, and forced displacement that occurs. Even when they emerge uninjured, many suffer the trauma of losing their homes and families.
Climate change is more than just an important environmental issue. Every time we burn forests, pollute water sources and practice unsustainable agriculture, children bear the direct effects—hunger, thirst, and trauma. UNICEF is fighting global warming with worldwide initiatives to start sustainable community gardens, plant trees, and educate young people on environmental issues and solutions.
Being “green” is about more than preserving earth’s gifts, it’s also about ensuring our children will be there—happy and healthy—to enjoy them.
To add your name to a Blog Action Day '09 petition calling on President Obama to lead on climate change, click here.
Comments (1)
How ever the global solution has failed, we have to do better than carbon trading which does nothing and mortgages the world to bankers!
Posted by Derek Wall | October 15, 2009 4:11 PM
Posted on October 15, 2009 16:11