Climate change adds heat stress for 22 million children in Bangladesh

Climate change is exposing about 22 million Bangladeshi children ages 0 to 9 to at least one additional month of dangerous heat stress each year, according to research led by Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and published in Science Advances.

The study found 79% of children in that age group face the added heat. It also estimated climate change has nearly tripled the number experiencing at least five months, or 150 days, of dangerous heat stress annually, from 9 million in a world without human-induced warming to 26 million today.

Researchers measured humid heat using a wet-bulb globe temperature threshold above 28 degrees Celsius in the shade. Lead author Rosa Pietroiusti said children in developing countries face disproportionate exposure. Under 2 degrees Celsius of warming, 98% of Bangladeshi children could face at least one additional month of heat stress.