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Roundup: Millions of children's lives at stake as El Nino strengthens, UNICEF warns

Xinhua, November 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

An estimated 11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water in eastern and southern Africa as a result of a strengthening El Nino, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.

El Nino is also causing droughts and floods in parts of Asia, the Pacific and Latin America, it added.

The consequences could ripple through generations unless affected communities receive support amid crop failures and lack of access to drinking water that are leaving children malnourished and at risk of killer diseases, UNICEF said in a report called "A Wake Up Call: El Nino's Impact on Children."

Besides the immediate risks of death and injury, El Nino can lead to significant increases in diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, diarrhoea and cholera, which are major killers of children.

When extreme weather deprives communities of their livelihoods, young children often suffer from undernutrition, which puts them at greater risk for illness, delayed mental development and premature death.

"Children and their communities need our help to recover from the impact of El Nino and to prepare for the further damage it could unleash," UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in a press release.

"At the same time, its intensity and potential destructiveness should be a wake-up call as world leaders gather in Paris. As they debate an agreement on limiting global warming, they should recall that the future of today's children and of planet they will inherit is at stake."

World leaders will gather in Paris for the 21st United Nations Climate Conference, also known as COP21, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11. The goal is to reach a universal, binding agreement aimed at limiting global warming by cutting greenhouse emissions.

El Ninos are not caused by climate change, but scientists believe they are becoming more intense as a result of climate change. Many of the countries now experiencing El Nino are those that face the gravest threat from climate change.

Many of the areas affected also have high poverty levels.

The weather phenomenon, among the strongest on record, is likely to cause more floods and droughts, fuel Pacific typhoons and cyclones and affect more areas if it continues strengthening as forecast over the coming months.

Some of the countries most affected by El Nino include Somalia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Pacific nations, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Peru and Ecuador.

El Nino is a climate pattern linked to the warming of surface waters in the Pacific Ocean, which can have a profound effect on weather patterns around the world. El Nino events tend to happen every two to seven years. Endit