Effects of climate change: Drought in the Amazon is leaving 420,000 children without food or education

While the World Meteorological Organization reported this Thursday that, almost two months before the end of the year, 2024 is on track to become the warmest in history*, UNICEF highlighted one of the effects of this warming: the drought in three countries in the Amazon region is leaving 420,000 children without food, water and education.

The lack of food caused by climate change drought increases the risk of malnutrition, stunting and wasting, and death in childrenespecially in children under 5 years of age, while water scarcity, aggravated by droughts, can cause more precarious access to drinking water and an increase in infectious diseases.

Research has also found that pregnant women who experience drought are more likely to have children with lower birth weights.

The drought, unprecedented since last year and which has left the rivers of the Amazon basin at their lowest levelis seriously affecting children and riverine and indigenous communities in Brazil, Colombia and Peru, where families depend on these flows to transport and access food, water, fuel and basic medical supplies, as well as to travel to school.

Essential services such as healthcare, education and child protection, as well as livelihoods from agriculture and fishing, are also severely disrupted in the region, putting lives at risk.

Devastation of the Amazon

«For centuries, the Amazon has housed valuable natural resources. “We are witnessing the devastation of an essential ecosystem on which families depend, leaving many children without access to adequate food, water, health care and schools,” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF.

«We must mitigate the effects of extreme climate crises to protect today’s children and future generations. “The health of the Amazon affects the health of all of us.”

The Amazon, the largest and most diverse rainforest on Earth, spans nine countries in South America. In the Amazon region of Brazil alone, more than 1,700 schools and more than 760 health centers have closed or are inaccessible due to low water level.

According to the latest field assessment carried out by UNICEF in 14 communities in the southern Brazilian Amazon, half of families say their children are not going to school as a result of the drought.

Associated risks for children: recruitment, exploitation and disease

In the Colombian Amazon, river water levels have dropped by up to 80%, restricting access to drinking water and food supplies, and leading to the suspension of in-person classes for children in more than 130 schools.

This, in turn, has increased the risk of children being recruited, used and exploited by non-state armed groups, and has also led to an increase in respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, malaria and acute malnutrition among children. under 5 years old.

In Peru, the northeastern region of Loreto is the most affected by the current drought, which endangers remote, mostly indigenous and already vulnerable communities.

Forest fires

More than 50 health centers have been left inaccessible, while forest fires, often started by people but whose spread has been facilitated by the droughts of the last two months, are also causing unprecedented devastation and loss of biodiversity in 22 of the 26 regions of the country, in addition to increasing air pollution at the local and regional level.

UNICEF estimates that $10 million is needed over the coming months to address the most urgent needs of communities affected by droughts in Brazil, Colombia and Peru, including the distribution of water and other essential supplies, the mobilization of health brigades and the strengthening the resilience of community systems and local public services in affected indigenous communities.

Looking ahead to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), UNICEF calls on leaders to carry out four fundamental actions for children and young people:

• Ensure COP29 responds to the unique and disproportionate impact of climate change on children
• Ensure a dramatic increase in climate finance for children, including funding for adaptation and loss and damage
• Ensure that all national climate change plans, so-called Nationally Determined Contributions 3.0, take children into account and respond to the disproportionate impact of climate change on them
• Empower children and young people to be present and meaningfully involved in climate decision-making at all levels

“Across the world, children are facing the devastating consequences of climate crises,” Russell added. «We find ourselves at a critical moment. “Children must be at the center of our climate negotiations.”

2024: On track for the warmest year on record

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the year 2024 is on track to be the warmest on record, with the global average near-surface temperature even higher than that of 2023.

The WMO global temperature analysis covers January to September 2024 and draws on six international data sets to provide a consolidated assessment of temperature.

The WMO provided the information to Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, before the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, being held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“Today, the World Meteorological Organization and its partners tell us that 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record, almost two months before it ends,” Guterres said.. «Humanity is setting the planet on fire and paying the price.»

*Since records exist