Children are at mortal risk from climate change

Fatema Yasmin :

Due to increase in temperature and climate change, severe weather disasters have started in the world.

In every country of the world, especially in Bangladesh, the normal weather and climate changes, floods, tornadoes have increased at an alarming rate and environmental disasters have occurred.

As a result of this disaster, people’s lives are threatened today.

Especially children’s lives are in danger. Global warming, deforestation, industrialization, pollution and urbanization are causing a long-lasting adverse effect on the climate.

This is called climate change. But global warming is the most important cause of climate change.

So to know about climate change we must know about global warming.

An increase in the Earth’s average temperature is called global warming.

As the temperature of the world is increasing, various natural disasters such as cyclones, tidal floods etc. are constantly hitting the settlements.

Earth’s average surface temperature has increased by about 1 degree Celsius (0.98 ± 0.18° Celsius or 1.3 ± 0.32 Fahrenheit) over the past 100 years.

It has been discovered that an increase in the temperature of the earth’s surface by 1 degree Celsius has created an adverse reaction in the climate of the world.

According to records, the world’s warmest years were between 1980 and 2009. 2000-2009 was recognized as the warmest decade in the world.

Climate change is affecting children more than adults, because children are weaker and less adaptable than adults.

Climate change is having a profound impact on the child in a family through the destruction of homes, threats to food security and loss of family livelihoods.

This effect is likely exacerbated by social and economic inequality due to individual conflicts and health epidemics.

Children are affected by climate change in both direct and indirect ways.

The World Health Organization estimates that a total of 88 percent of diseases worldwide affect children under five years of age, which is said to be the worst affected by climate change.

As a result of climate change, day by day outbreak of new diseases and natural calamities, a family has to face many problems and one of these problems is financial problems.

This directly affects the children. As a result, the normal development of children is disrupted.

Children’s childhood and health are also affected. Due to climate change Bangladesh has to face various disasters.

Such as excessive heat, flood, cyclone, excessive cold flow, etc.

Natural calamities hit Bangladesh every year, it is now a regular occurrence.

The people of Bangladesh are now almost used to struggling with natural disasters. Sudden natural disasters cause massive loss of life.

People’s long-term arranged family is destroyed in an instant.

In this kind of ruthless behavior of nature, the shadow of suffering and happiness descends on human life.

Many children and newborns are losing their lives due to these natural disasters.

Most people in Bangladesh have low income. So it takes years for them to cope with natural calamities.

Children are not developing normally. No one in the family including children can eat a balanced diet.

Many children are deprived of education due to financial problems, because children are being sent to work to cope with the pressure of the family.

If most children are asked why they are working instead of going to school? Then they will answer that their houses are destroyed due to floods, cyclones or various natural disasters, they are dealing with family financial problems including the death of the breadwinner of the family.

So it can be said that due to climate change child labour is increasing day by day and children dropping out of school are increasing day by day.

According to the research, about 1.7 million children of the country are involved in prohibited and risky activities. One in four is aged 11 or under.

Just as adults are coming to Dhaka in search of work, children are also coming.

Most of the children in the slums of Dhaka and surrounding areas work in tanneries, tailor shops, grocery shops, launch yards, hazardous mills or chemical factories, pulling heavy goods or goods in the market, bus stands, launch ghats or railway stations.

If we consider it from the health side, it can be seen that due to climate change, a child suddenly gets fever and cold.

This seems normal but later takes the form of severe disease.

Environmental pollution or air pollution can also make a child sicker.

Various viruses and bacteria are created from environmental pollution. Air pollution affects the incidence of low birth weight and premature birth.

Children tend to develop asthma when exposed to toxic air.
Climate change depends on several natural processes.

As there are various dynamic processes of the earth, there are external influences.

The latter factor may include the amount of solar radiation, the change in the direction of the Earth’s axis or the position of the Earth relative to the Sun.

At present, global warming due to human-caused greenhouse gases is one of the causes of climate change. But human activities are largely responsible for the rate at which temperatures are rising now.

Earth’s temperature is now 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than when humans started burning oil, gas and coal to run factories and vehicles or to keep homes warm in the winter.

Carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, has increased by 50 percent since the 19th century.

It has increased by 12 percent in the last two decades. Deforestation also increases greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Plants store carbon. As a result, when those trees are cut down or burned, the stored carbon is released into the atmosphere.

Bangladesh needs to grow more forest area and use less land and set up high-rise buildings and factories to deal with climate impacts. Care should be taken to avoid any damage to the environment.

Industrial waste should be treated and deposited in a specific place and how to recycle this waste and use new innovative technologies.

Black smoke from mills causes serious damage to the environment. From now on green factory initiative should be taken so that there is no harm to the environment. Plastic waste and use of polythene should be reduced.

This plastic waste is not easily decomposed, causing severe damage to the environment. The use of solar power should be increased in power generation. Solar power does not harm the environment.

Treatment of tannery waste should be arranged. Care must be taken to ensure that tannery waste does not flow into canals and rivers. If the tannery waste goes into canals and rivers, there is a danger of various diseases.

So tannery waste should be purified and made usable. Care should be taken to set up industrial factories so that agricultural land is not destroyed.

Industrial plants should be built using less space. Plants should be planted or accommodated around the industrial plant. Multi-storied buildings should be constructed without destroying agricultural land. Population growth is a big problem for the country. As the population grows, so does the demand.

Therefore, due to the increase in population, separate houses have to be built. Agricultural land decreases, so steps should be taken to prevent population growth by public and private initiatives without having more children.

(The writer is Senior HR manager at Uttara Crescent Hospital.)