전세계 어린이, 성인보다 폭염 스트레스에 3배 더 노출

A recent study has found that over 580 million children worldwide may be exposed to heat stress for at least 20 days a year due to climate change, far more than any other age group. This highlights how the health risks of climate change are disproportionately affecting future generations, particularly in specific regions. Belgian researchers from the Free University of Brussels analyzed how the extent of heat exposure varies by age group in the context of climate change.

Their research, published in the journal Science Advances, showed that while 60-69-year-olds experience heat stress for an average of 19 days a year, children aged 0-9 face this threat for 28 days on average. The main reason for this discrepancy is that children tend to reside in areas where heat stress is expected to increase more due to climate change.

For instance, in the poverty-stricken country of Cote d'Ivoire, 53 of the 112 days that experience heat stress are projected to be caused by climate change. In contrast, Germany has an average of just 0.1 days of heat stress per year. In Cote d'Ivoire, children make up 27% of the population, compared to only 9% in Germany. The study predicts that this disparity will only grow as climate change intensifies.

Currently, 11% of children aged 0-9 are exposed to more than 100 days of heat stress annually, which is expected to rise to 13% if global temperatures increase by 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, and 23% if temperatures rise by 2 degrees. This makes children 1.3 to 1.5 times more likely to experience severe heat stress than older adults.

However, the regions facing the most extreme heat stress are primarily low-income areas, so while everyone will face more heat stress, the relative disparity across age groups is expected to decrease over time. Lead author Rosa Pietroni of the Free University of Brussels noted that many children, especially those in developing countries, have little protective measures against heat stress, regardless of their low contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.