A man and a child wearing breathing masks are seen on an electric vehicle in smog on November 14, 2018 in Beijing, China.

Climate change is already damaging the health of children, and its impacts will harm the entire generation with serious health problems throughout their lives, according to a new report from the medical journal The Lancet.

Scientists and health experts from 35 academic institutions and United Nations agencies said that children will suffer from a rise in infectious diseases, malnutrition and air pollution if global warming continues on the current trajectory.

A child born today will experience a world that is more than 4˚C warmer by the time they turn 71 years old, a rate of warming that will threaten their health at every stage of their life, the report's authors said.

"Children are particularly vulnerable to the health risks of a changing climate," said Nick Watts, executive director of The Lancet Countdown, an annual report tracking connections between public health and climate change.

"Their bodies and immune systems are still developing, leaving them more susceptible to disease and environmental pollutants," he said.

If greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, the atmosphere will warm up by 1.5˚C in about 20 years. Warming starting at 2˚C could trigger an international food crisis in coming years, according to a recent report from the U.N.'s scientific panel on climate change.

"Without immediate action from all countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, gains in well being and life expectancy will be compromised, and climate change will come to define the health of an entire generation," Watts said.

Children are more susceptible to infectious diseases exacerbated by rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns, according to the report. For example, climate change is causing the spread of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease. Nine of the 10 most hospitable years for dengue transmission have occurred since 2000.