Bangkok, Apr 11 (EFE).- More than 240 million minors are at risk from conditions related to heatwaves in East Asia, which is preparing for a summer with record temperatures, the United Nations said Thursday in a statement.
A street vendor cools down from the heat as he waits for customers to sell drinking water and soft drinks during hot weather in Bangkok, Thailand, 03 April 2024. EFE-EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT/FILE
“Children are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of climate change, and excess heat is a potentially lethal threat to them,” said Debora Comini, director of the Regional Office of the UN Children’s Fund for East Asia and the Pacific.
The UN body warns of more intense and frequent heat waves this summer in the region and said it was concerned since high levels of humidity make it difficult for the body to cool naturally.
“We must be on high alert this summer to protect children and vulnerable communities from worsening heatwaves and other climate shocks,” Comini said, citing chronic respiratory problems, asthma and cardiovascular diseases as risks.
The warning coincides with the high temperatures the region is already ing and that has already forced countries such as the Philippines to act, where classes were suspended this week in hundreds of schools, and Thailand, which issued alerts in the country’s north.
April and May, which precede the arrival of the monsoon, are the hottest months in much of Southeast Asia, which in recent months has suffered higher temperatures due to the natural El Nino phenomenon, which has added to global warming caused by the climate crisis.
Last year, the region suffered a wave of record temperatures with up to 45.4C in Thailand, 44.2C in Vietnam and 43.5C in Laos between April and May.
According to UNICEF projections, 2 billion children worldwide are expected to be exposed to a high frequency of heat waves by 2050 due to changes resulting from the climate crisis. EFE
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