UNICEF: Extreme weather events displace millions of children
October 6, 2023
A new UN report says that more than 43 million children were uprooted between 2016 and 2021 due to weather disasters fuelled by climate change.
Droughts are among the extreme weather events forcing millions of children from their homesImage: Dasril Roszandi/AA/picture alliance
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Extreme weather events — among them floods, droughts, storms and wildfires — associated with the climate crisis led to over 43 million displacements involving children between 2016 and 2021, according to a United Nations report.
At the current rate of climate change, more than 100 million children and young people could be displaced by weather disasters alone over the next 30 years, the report released by UNICEF on Friday said.
"The reality is that far more children are going to be impacted in (the) future, as the impacts of climate change continue to intensify," Laura Healy, a migration specialist at UNICEF and one of the report's authors, said.
Numbers on internal displacements caused by climate disasters do not generally account for the age of the victims.
But the UN children's agency worked with the non-governmental Internal Displacement Monitoring Center to sift through the data and highlight the hidden tally on children.
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Majority displaced due to floods and storms
From 2016 to 2021, four types of climate disasters: floods, storms, droughts and wildfires led to the displacement of 43.1 million children in 44 countries, the report said.
The frequency of these disasters have increased due to global warming.
Among the displacements, 95 per cent (40.9 million) were caused by floods and storms.
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While over 1.3 million children were displaced within their countries because of droughts, nearly 810,000 children were displaced because of forest fires, mainly in Canada, Israel and the United States, the report showed.
China and the Philippines were among the nations where the most children were internally displaced, the report said.
But, relative to the size of the child population, children living in small island countries, like Dominica and Vanuatu, were most affected by storms, while children in Somalia and South Sudan were most affected by floods, it added.
Brazil: Dramatic drought in the Amazon
The Amazon rainforest is experiencing a severe drought: River levels dropped significantly, fish are dying and the human population is suffering as well. The weather phenomenon El Nino and climate change are to blame.
Image: MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP/Getty Images
Narrow lane
Boats can still travel on this section of the Amazon near Manacapuru, but its level is dangerously low. The Amazon region is experiencing a record drought already affecting 100,000 people. The Brazilian government is setting up a task force to help those who rely on the rivers as transport routes for food and other essentials.
Image: Edmar Barros/AP/dpa/picture alliance
'Very worrying' situation
Rivers are the region's main transportation routes, and the drought has already disrupted some of them. "The situation is very worrying," Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva told Reuters news agency. Food and water shortages loom. The government is providing 140 million reals (€26.3 million) for dredging navigation channels and ports to keep the rivers navigable.
Image: MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP/Getty Images
Cut off from the outside world
People in the Brazilian states of Amazonas and Acre, already cut off from the outside world, are now to be supplied with water, food and medicine by the air force. By the end of the year, half a million people could be affected by the drought, authorities fear ― just like the inhabitants of these stranded houseboats that normally float on the Rio Negro.
Image: MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP
Lake of dead fish
Fisherman Paulo Monteiro da Cruz navigates his boat through a sea of dead fish in Lake Piranha. The livelihood of many fishermen here is acutely threatened. The low water levels and exceptionally high water temperatures have triggered a mass die-off in the region's rivers and lakes.
Image: BRUNO KELLY/REUTERS
Livelihoods at risk
Thousands of dead fish pile up on the shore of this headland. The mass die-off is a disaster for nature and the people: Fishing, the livelihood for many communities along the rivers in the Amazon, has had to be largely halted. In addition, the dead fish floating on the surface of the rivers contaminate the drinking water.
Image: BRUNO KELLY/REUTERS
Rock bottom
Boats lie aground in the port of Manaus, the biggest city in the Brazilian Amazon region. According to the port authority's website, the water level has dropped by an average of 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) per day since mid-September. On Wednesday, it was at a depth of 16.4 meters (53.8 feet), about six meters shallower than on the same day last year.
Image: MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP/Getty Images
Up in flames
Drought and heat are not only affecting the rivers: The region is also suffering from numerous forest fires, and in some cases, the flames are also threatening settlements. In mid-September, the state of Amazonas declared a state of environmental emergency. Currently, 15 municipalities are in a state of emergency and 40 others in a state of alert, according to the civil defense authority.
Image: MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP
Rainforest without rain
In Iranduda, the otherwise mighty Rio Negro is currently little more than a trickle. The drought in the north and the floods in southern Brazil are triggered by the El Nino weather phenomenon, which warms the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean. Weather experts say the effects have been more severe than usual this year.
Image: MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP/Getty Images
Gloomy prospects
"We are experiencing a coincidence of two phenomena: one natural, El Nino, and one man-made, global warming," Environment Minister Silva told Reuters. This combination, she said, has led to an unprecedented drought in the Amazon, the likes of which Brazil will probably see more of in the future. Climate change is making droughts more frequent and longer.
Image: MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP/Getty Images
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"It is terrifying for any child when a ferocious wildfire, storm or flood barrels into their community," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
"For those who are forced to flee, the fear and impact can be especially devastating, with worry of whether they will return home, resume school, or be forced to move again. Moving may have saved their lives, but it's also very disruptive," she said.
Russell raised concern about acting "too slowly" in tackling the spiraling challenge for children.
"As the impacts of climate change escalate, so too will climate-driven movement. We have the tools and knowledge to respond to this escalating challenge for children, but we are acting far too slowly. We need to strengthen efforts to prepare communities, protect children at risk of displacement, and support those already uprooted," she pointed out.
