Can i survive all the implications

We must work together to protect children on the move or living through conflict, to include them in key COVID responses, and to stand with them in solidarity. Our response to the coronavirus disease must reimagine a world fit for every child. History has shown that UNICEF, together with partners, has the experience and reach to improve the lives of millions of children and their families. We were there for the post-World War II refugee crisis — and have responded to every natural disaster, armed conflict, famine and disease since.

And we are here now, in countries, working with communities, governments and partners to slow the spread of COVID and minimize the social and economic impacts on children and their families. This article was originally published on 3 April It was last updated on 21 September Without urgent action, this health crisis risks becoming a child-rights crisis. Keep children healthy and well nourished International efforts to bolster health systems — by ensuring supplies and protective equipment reach affected communities, and training health workers to prevent, diagnose and treat coronavirus disease — will go a long way to fight the virus.

As health systems stretch, children will lose their lives to preventable causes. Reach children with water, sanitation and hygiene Protecting ourselves and others through proper handwashing and hygiene practices has never been more important.

Keep children learning An entire generation of children has now seen its education interrupted. She was left behind at home until medical personnel in the hospital volunteered to look after her. Protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse Risk factors for violence, exploitation and abuse are on the rise for children living under restricted movement and socioeconomic decline. Protect refugee and migrant children, and those affected by conflict Every day, refugee children, migrant children and children affected by conflict face unspeakable human rights violations and threats to their safety and well-being — and this in the absence of a pandemic.

We commit to: Working with governments, authorities and global health partners to ensure vital supplies and protective equipment reach the most vulnerable communities. Prioritizing the delivery of life-saving medicines, nutrition and vaccines, and working closely with governments and logistics networks to mitigate the impact of travel restrictions on the delivery of these supplies.

Working with partners to urgently distribute water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to the most vulnerable communities. Distributing vital public health messaging and advice to slow the transmission of the virus and minimize mortality. Supporting governments to prioritize schools in their reopening plans and take all possible measures to reopen safely.

The oceans may be acidifying faster today than they did in the last million years, primarily due to human activities.

Can the species we share the planet with adapt fast enough to cope with the new world we are creating for them? Widespread degradation of ecosystems threatens the conditions of life on Earth, in particular the long-term survival of our own species. Our impact on the planet is much is deeper than carbon footprints or global warming. It points to a future where the effects of anthropogenic matter will take over — if it hasn't already — the identity of the Earth and its life.

In the face of this, humans themselves might lose out in the evolutionary race. Eliminating materials like concrete or plastic or replacing them with alternatives is not going to address the fundamental problem with human attitudes and our unparalleled appetite for more.

This is exactly where materialism can seamlessly transform into a known unknown risk factor in global catastrophe. The myriad of ways in which it can turn this planet into a mundane world is something our civilisation has never experienced before.

In the absence of a fully secure evolutionary shield, we could depend on our intelligence to survive. Nevertheless, as Abraham Loeb, professor of science at Harvard University and an astronomer who is searching for dead cosmic civilisations puts it, "the mark of intelligence is the ability to promote a better future". The story of Bhasmasura in Hindu Mythology offers an eerie parallel to the impact of materialism. As a devotee of Lord Shiva , he obtains a boon from Shiva, which empowers him to turn anyone into ashes with a mere touch on the head.

Immediately after gaining this magical ability, he tries to test it on Shiva himself. Shiva manages to escape, the story goes. But humans may not be lucky enough to flee from their own actions. Unless, we offer a different vision rooted in reduction of consumption, the flames of our own materialism might consume both us and our Pale Blue Dot. Join one million Future fans by liking us on Facebook , or follow us on Twitter or Instagram. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.

Could humans really destroy all life on Earth? Share using Email. By Santhosh Mathew 21st May Many prisoners also report long-term mental health problems after being held in isolation. Natascha Kampusch — an Australian woman who was kidnapped at the age of ten and held captive in a cellar for eight years — noted in her biography that the lack of light and human contact mentally weakened her. The effects of isolation can become even more pronounced if you experience it in total darkness, causing both physical and psychological consequences.

One impact of being in complete darkness is that it can wreck your sleep cycle. Daylight reduces our levels of melatonin, helping us feel awake. Daylight also helps the suprachiastmatic nucleus to reset our waking time if our sleep cycles start to drift. Without daylight, our hour circadian rhythm can change. This explains why people exploring cave systems, for example, may find that their sleep-wake cycle becomes disrupted. Disruptions to our circadian rhythm can also make us feel depressed and fatigued.

Families often assume they will have grasped the major issues arising from a premature birth once the child reaches school age, by which time any neurodevelopmental problems will have appeared, Girard-Bock says. Her PhD advisers have found that young adults of this population exhibit risk factors for cardiovascular disease — and it may be that more chronic health conditions will show up with time. Camille Girard-Bock, born at 26 weeks of gestation, is now studying the effects of prematurity for a PhD.

She and other against-the-odds babies are part of a population which is larger now than at any time in history: young adults who are survivors of extreme prematurity.

For the first time, researchers can start to understand the long-term consequences of being born so early. Results are pouring out of cohort studies that have been tracking kids since birth, providing data on possible long-term outcomes; other studies are trialling ways to minimize the consequences for health.

Although many extremely premature infants grow up to lead healthy lives, disability is still a major concern, particularly cognitive deficits and cerebral palsy. Researchers are working on novel interventions to boost survival and reduce disability in extremely premature newborns. Several compounds aimed at improving lung, brain and eye function are in clinical trials, and researchers are exploring parent-support programmes, too. Researchers are also investigating ways to help adults who were born extremely prematurely to cope with some of the long-term health impacts they might face: trialling exercise regimes to minimize the newly identified risk of cardiovascular disease, for example.

The late twentieth century brought huge changes to neonatal medicine. But the biggest difference to survival came in the early s, with surfactant treatment.

Marcelle Girard looks in at baby Camille, born weighing just grams 2 pounds. Credit: Camille Girard-Bock. Today, many hospitals regularly treat, and often save, babies born as early as 22—24 weeks. Survival rates vary depending on location and the kinds of interventions a hospital is able to provide.

In this cohort, another one-third have multiple disabilities, he says, and the rest have none. What should doctors expect? For a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year 4 , Crump and his colleagues scraped data from the Swedish birth registry.

They looked at more than 2. Researchers have found similar trends in a UK cohort study of extremely premature births. Such disabilities can impact education as well as quality of life. To answer it, Garfield and his colleagues analysed standardized test scores and teacher assessments on children born in Florida between and In comparison, Despite their tricky start, by the time they reach adolescence, many people born prematurely have a positive outlook.

Conversely, a study 8 found that children born at less than 28 weeks did report having a significantly lower quality of life. The children, who did not have major disabilities, scored themselves 6 points lower, out of , than a reference population.

As Marlow spent time with his participants and their families, his worries about severe neurological issues diminished. Most are on track to do so. A nurse uses electroencephalography EEG to carry out a check of brain development on a baby born at 25 weeks. But scientists have only just begun to follow people born extremely prematurely into adulthood and then middle age and beyond, where health issues may yet lurk.

As a newborn, Alsadik spent three months in the neonatal-intensive-care unit NICU with kidney failure, sepsis and respiratory distress. The consequences of her prematurity are on display every time she speaks, her voice high and breathy because the ventilator she was put on damaged her vocal cords. When she was 15, her navel unexpectedly began leaking yellow discharge, and she required surgery.