What is Climate Change?
Children play with water dripping from a tanker truck during a distribution in a camp for people displaced by the drought
UNICEF/NYHQ2005-0691/Heger
Climate change is the increase in the planet’s temperature due to human-made emissions of certain gases called ‘greenhouse gases.’ These gases build up in our atmosphere and act like the glass in a greenhouse, letting heat from the sun in, but not letting it back out again. The amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere has been increasing due to deforestation, the burning of fossil fuels, and the world’s growing population.
Did you know that the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990, and 2008 was the hottest year ever? The principal greenhouse gas generated from human activities is carbon dioxide (CO2). The increase in the planet’s temperature means changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events.
Are people already being affected by climate change?
Yes!
Some of the world’s most vulnerable communities are already facing the devastating effects of climate change. For example, as the climate changes, water shortages are becoming more commonplace, resulting in a decrease in available food in some countries, which could lead to widespread hunger and starvation.
Normally, the school garden produces vegetables for the children, but only a portion of it is tended now because of the drought.
UNICEF/NYHQ2002-0337/Pirozzi
Many of the major causes of death for children in low and middle-income countries, including malaria, diarrhoea and lack of nutrition, are also highly sensitive to climate conditions and will worsen as the climate changes.
Hazardous weather(such as hurricanes, cyclones and flooding) is also predicted to increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change. Along with rising sea levels, these environmental factors will continue to have a huge impact on children worldwide, costing lives and forcing children and their families to leave their homes. In fact, it’s estimated that every year in the next decade, 175 million children will be affected by sudden climate-related disasters.
Climate change makes all of the Millennium Development Goals less achievable – slowing our efforts to eradicate poverty, improve health and protect the environment.
How UNICEF Helps
Two boys pause while searching for food for their family who lost their house to the flooding.
UNICEF/NYHQ1997-0735/Chalasani
UNICEF works to help communities and children deal with the effects of climate change in the world’s most vulnerable countries. Where people are most at risk from potential climate-related disasters like flooding and crop failure, UNICEF works with local people to establish action plans, enabling them to better prepare for future disasters.
By equipping communities with knowledge and skills before disasters strike – rather than simply reacting in the aftermath - communities can better protect themselves. Good preparation can prevent loss of life and livelihoods, and reduce malnutrition and disease.
UNICEF UK has also joined Stop Climate Chaos, a diverse coalition of organisations working together to press for political action on climate change.
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Further Issues
Find out more
Watch the Age of Stupid Film
Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off) stars as a man living alone in the devasted world of 2055, looking back at archive footage from 2007 and asking: why didnt we stop climate change when we had the chance?