When we discuss the impact climate change is having on poor nations, it can be difficult to really picture the effects. After all, these are far-off places that we hear about, but may not give much thought to beyond when we're reading the news with a cup of coffee in hand in the morning. Maybe that's why it finally starts to hit home when you hear that impoverished children are the ones who are really getting the raw end of the global warming deal. There's nothing like putting a child's face on a situation bring reality crashing home - quite literally.

A UNICEF report titled "Our Climate, Our Children, Our responsibility" released Tuesday says that millions of children worldwide are the most vulnerable of climate change victims, with an estimated 40,000 to 160,000 additional child deaths per year in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. A rise in temperature of two degrees Celsius could cause 200,000 hungry mouths each year and poor economic conditions may mean education takes a backseat as parents pull their kids from school - sometimes their only source of a meal in a given day - to lug water and fuel instead. The wider spread of diseases such as malaria will also be inevitable if the temperature continues to rise.

"It is clear that a failure to address climate change is a failure to protect children," said UNICEF UK director David Bull. "Those who have contributed least to climate change -- the world's poorest children -- are suffering the most."

 

» Reuters Environment