Climate Change While climate change is not a key theme of Rio+20, it is a driving force behind the discussion on sustainable development in coming decades. Although climate change affects individuals of all ages, young people will bear a particularly heavy burden because they will live longer and will face this challenge throughout their lifetimes. Some of these challenges are described in the United Nations' World Youth Report 2010 Youth & Climate Change. § Unless timely and effective action is taken, extreme weather events, water scarcity, higher sustained temperatures, and other phenomena associated with climate change are likely to pose a serious threat to human health and safety. § Climate change will continue to affect all aspects of food security, especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean where more than 1 billion young men and women live. § Environmental stress has already been responsible for numerous internal conflicts, such as the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Many of the factors that push youth into situations of conflict -including economic instability, social and political exclusion, unemployment, and dissatisfaction with public services - may be exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Learn more and take action:
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