Kids Born in 2020 Will Face Up to 7 Times More Extreme Climate Events: Study
JOSH EDELSON//Getty Images Bear Fire in California
The likelihood of children experiencing multiple extreme climate events in their lifetimes is growing by the year, according to new research.
In a study published in the journal Science, researchers said that children who are born in 2020 will experience two to seven times more extreme climate events than those who were born in 1960.
The events — which include heatwaves, droughts, crop failures, floods, wildfires and tropical cyclones — are likely to rise in frequency, intensity and duration due to the current rate of global warming and lack of preventative national policies, NPR reported, citing the study.
As the years pass and the risk increases, younger generations are expected to have their safety "severely threatened by climate change," the study stated.
Researchers determined their findings using data from a 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, according to NPR.
ED JONES/AFP via Getty Flooding from Hurricane Ida
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Through their analysis of the information, scientists were able to determine that a child who was 6 years old in 2020 will experience a whopping 36 times more heatwaves than a person who was born in 1960, the outlet reported.
Comparing the other climate disasters, the data was just as staggering, with the children expected to face twice as many cyclones and wildfires, three times as many river floods, four times as many crop failures and five times as many droughts as the adults, per NPR.
The study referred to the troublesome findings as an "unprecedented extreme event exposure," NPR stated.
Age wasn't the only factor that scientists compared in their study — they also looked at different regions and incomes and how they impacted different generations.
For people under 25 living in the Middle East and North Africa in 2020, they were likely to face more extreme climate events than other regions, while younger generations in low-income countries will experience more events than those in wealthier countries, NPR reported.
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News of the study comes as the Youth4Climate summit kicks off in Milan, Italy, where young activists have gathered to discuss climate change and actionable change.
Greta Thunberg, 18, has roasted world leaders' lack of action on the crisis, saying at the summit, "This is all we hear from our so-called leaders: words. Words that sound great but so far have led to no action," according to NPR.
"Our hopes and dreams drown in their empty words and promises," she added, per the outlet. "Of course, we need constructive dialogue, but they have now had 30 years of blah, blah, blah. And where has this led us?"
Later in her speech, the teen activist urged people to maintain hope and reiterated that change is "not only possible but urgently necessary," BBC News reported.
