New Delhi: The United Nations (UN) issued a dire warning on Monday, revealing that three-quarters of children in South Asia are confronting dangerously high temperatures, representing the highest proportion on a global scale. This distressing situation is a direct result of the escalating impact of climate change.

The UN children's agency disclosed that approximately 460 million children in South Asia, accounting for 76 percent of the region's children, are currently exposed to extreme heat. In stark contrast, only a third of children globally experience such conditions. Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF's Regional Director for South Asia, emphasized the alarming significance of these findings, stating, "With the world at global boiling, the data clearly show that the lives and well-being of millions of children across South Asia are increasingly threatened by heat waves and high temperatures."

According to the UN's assessment, children in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, and Pakistan are deemed to be at an "extremely high risk" due to climate change. The classification for extreme high temperatures involves experiencing 83 or more days per year with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).

Children are particularly vulnerable to temperature fluctuations, as their bodies are less adept at adapting to changes in heat and are incapable of efficiently regulating excess warmth. Wijesekera further emphasized, "Young children simply cannot handle the heat. Unless we act now, these children will continue to bear the brunt of more frequent and more severe heatwaves in the coming years."

The pressing concern arises from the fact that global warming has caused a temperature rise of 1.2 degrees Celsius since the late 1800s, primarily due to the combustion of fossil fuels. This phenomenon has exacerbated heatwaves, rendering them more intense, prolonged, and frequent. These climate changes have also intensified other extreme weather events, including storms and floods.

July marked a distressing record as the hottest month ever recorded globally. The surge in temperatures, driven by the impacts of global warming, has adversely affected tens of millions of people across Europe, Asia, and North America.

Scientists are unanimous in their call for immediate adaptation to the escalating heat and other climate-related impacts, alongside a drastic reduction in carbon pollution within this decade to avert even graver consequences in the future.