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If it is not taken seriously, if it is not considered a priority, if nothing is done, climate change will continue to pose a serious threat to human health . He is already harming the children that are born on such a day as today and will pursue his well-being throughout his life. To change the direction of this drifting trip and protect the next generation, it should be paddled in the direction of an objective: "That the world meets the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius" . This is emphasized by a new report just published by The Lancet.

For this, it is essential that, by 2050, CO2 emissions caused by fossil fuels are reduced by 7.4% each year. That is, the energy landscape must change dramatically because, in response to this research, these types of emissions continue to increase. Between 2016 and 2018, they increased by 2.6%.

In addition, the supply of energy from coal is increasing. Its declining trend was reversed and rose 1.7% between 2016 and 2018. Meanwhile, premature deaths related to 2.5 micron suspended particles (PM2.5), far from being reduced, remain stable at 2.9 million around the world

For researchers, this is just the tip of the iceberg: "If Europe experienced a PM2.5 with the 2016 levels throughout the life of the current population, the economic losses and health costs of diseases related to air pollution and premature deaths could reach 129 million euros a year, "as they point out in the document.

With the aim of not reaching this point, a total of 120 experts from 35 world institutions (the World Health Organization -OMS-, the World Bank or University College London) have analyzed the progress that has taken place in 41 indicators key to be able to assess the damages that it entails in climate change.

"This year, the accelerated impacts of climate change have become clearer than ever," says Professor Huhg Montgomery, co-chair of The Lancet Countdown and director of the Institute for Human Health and Performance at College London University. "The highest temperatures recorded in Western Europe and forest fires in Siberia, Queensland and California caused asthma, respiratory infections and heat stroke. And sea level is rising to an increasingly worrisome rhyme."

If this challenge is not met, it will not be possible to protect the children born on this day or today or the following generations. Your health, your well-being and your life expectancy will be marked by climate change. Thus, a newborn will grow in an environment with average temperatures of four degrees higher before turning 71.

Upon birth, "the bodies and immune systems are still in the process of development , so that children are more susceptible to environmental diseases and pollutants," says Nick Watts, executive director of The Lancet Countdown .

Then, as temperatures rise, crops are reduced. This threatens food security and raises food prices. For example, the price of bread skyrocketed 37% in Egypt in 2007-2008. "Infants and young children are among those most affected by malnutrition, with health problems such as stature delay, weak immune systems and long-term development problems, " says the research.

Children are especially vulnerable to infectious diseases that the increase in temperatures and the greater frequency of rainfall leaves in their wake. In fact, 2018 was the second year with the most suitable climatic conditions recorded for the spread of the bacteria responsible for diarrheal diseases.

Throughout adolescence, a child born today will be breathing more toxic gases because of fossil fuels and rising temperatures. According to the report, "the polluted air causes great damage, contributing to a reduction in lung function, worsening asthma and increasing the risk of myocardial infarctions and strokes."

Those born on this day like today will be exposed to a greater risk of serious floods, prolonged droughts and controlled fires. The editor-in-chief of The Lancet Countdown , Richard Horton, appeals: "The climate crisis is one of the greatest threats to human health, but the world has not yet seen a response from governments that lives up to it" .

If the world performances fit the Paris Agreement, a child born today in the United Kingdom, for example, could see the end of the use of coal before his sixth birthday and the growth of solar and wind energy would result in an air Cleaner in the whole country.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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