DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - A new study shows that children born in 2021 will face triple the amount of severe weather events as their grandparents.

While the study was done on a global scale, Illinois state climatologist at the University of Illinois, Trent Ford, said more heat waves, flooding and droughts can be expected.

"So it's not just OK by 2050. Heat waves in Illinois are gonna be this many times worse, it's that a person who's alive in 2050 and a person maybe born in 1990 and is alive in 2050 (who) will have experienced this many more effects of climate change, heat waves, floods that sort of thing, than a person who is born in 1960," Ford said. 

Here in central Illinois, this means more heat waves and unprecedented flooding, but these severe weather events will have a greater impact.

"We have issues related to vector borne disease, respiratory health because of an extended allergy season, economic impacts from agricultural issues related to extreme precipitation, drought, air quality issues," said Ford.

Ford said we should all take this study as a wake up call for future generations.

"This is a really important way to frame climate change as something that we can act on now to reduce the burden that it places on our kids and our grandkids decades from now," Ford said. 

The study is just a scientific prediction of what is to come, but the outcome can be lessened if changes are made.

"That requires action," Ford said. "It requires reduction of immediate and dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and concentrations in the atmosphere as well as adaptive practices. We have to make sure that our systems are more resilient to the effects of climate change."

The full study can be found here.