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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
Lifestyle
London - Asharq Al-Awsat

Climate Change Affects Life of Babies more than Adults

Newborn babies sleep in cribs inside a hospital in Tacloban City, in central Philippines November 13, 2013, five days after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the area. Reuters file photo

In its Friday issue, The Mirror released the picture of a newborn and wrote: "Baby Layton is few-hour-old but his future is threatened because of climate change." Below the picture, a caption writes: "Give me a world I can grow in."

The page featuring the picture is part of a report on the impact of climate change on children. Meanwhile, The Lancet journal published a research paper carried out by 100 experts from 35 scientific institutions, including the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to the German News Agency, the paper found that climate change is affecting the health of many people, mainly babies.

"If the use of natural resources persists in the same way, the life of every child born today will be severely affected by climate change," the experts warned.

In their paper, they cited current and future climate change effects on health, and suggested that "under current emissions, children born today will live in a 4°C warmer world by the age of 71."

Nick Watts, head of the Lancet's research team, said: "Children are the most affected by climate change. Their bodies and immune systems are still developing, and the damage done in early childhood lasts a lifetime."

The experts also explained that the crops failure caused by climate change, would lead to malnutrition posing children to higher risks. Diarrhea, and diseases transmitted by mosquitoes such as the Dengue Fever are also expected to affect children more than adults. According to the report, the climate change has actually contributed to the spread of bacteria causing diseases.

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