Extreme weather disrupted the schooling of about 242 million children in 85 countries last year—roughly one in seven students, the UN children’s agency reported Thursday, deploring an “overlooked” aspect of the climate crisis.
Heat waves had the biggest impact, the report showed, as UNICEF’s executive director Catherine Russell warned children are “more vulnerable” to extreme weather.
“They heat up faster, they sweat less efficiently, and cool down more slowly than adults,” she said in a statement.
“Children cannot concentrate in classrooms that offer no respite from sweltering heat, and they cannot get to school if the path is flooded, or if schools are washed away.”
At least 171 million children were affected by heat waves—including 118 million in April alone, as temperatures soared in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Thailand and the Philippines.
The figures are likely to rise in coming years as temperatures continue going up, with half the world’s children—around one billion—living in countries at high risk of climate and environmental shocks.
If the emission of greenhouse gases continues on its current trajectory, eight times as many children will be exposed to heat waves in 2050 as in 2000, according to UNICEF projections.
More than three times as many would be exposed to extreme floods and 1.7 times more to wildfires, the projections showed.
Beyond the immediate impacts, UNICEF voiced fears that the damage could increase the risk of some children—girls in particular—dropping out of school altogether.
Already, some two-thirds of children around the world cannot read with comprehension by age 10, it said, adding: “Climate hazards are exacerbating this reality.”