A new UNICEF report released on Wednesday to coincide with World Children’s Day has found that eight times more children will experience extreme heatwaves globally by 2050.
According to The State of the World’s Children 2024, three megatrends will have powerful impacts on the lives of children between now and midcentury, including the environmental and climate crises; demographic shifts; and “frontier technologies,” a press release from UNICEF said.
In the report, researchers model the ways in which potential pathways could influence how children experience our world in 2050.
“The demographic trends of today will shape tomorrow’s population patterns. The carbon we pour into our atmosphere today will shape tomorrow’s climate. The technologies we develop and govern today will influence not only how future generations learn, work and communicate, but also the well-being of children for years to come,” the report’s executive summary said.
According to the United Nations, three times as many children will be …