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India: Hottest summer on record claims hundreds of lives
photo by Koshyk (source: Flickr Creative Commons)
Northern India has been suffering from record high temperatures in a deadly heatwave that hundreds have perished in. Temperatures reached 48.5C (119F) in Gujarat state several days ago, but the worst may still be to come with forecasts nearing 50C (122F) for the weeks to come.
Many people have been hospitalized, bodies of water have dried up and animals have died as due to the intense heat.
From an article in the Guardian:
The Indian Meterological Department attributes the record heat to lack of atmospheric humidity, hot dry winds blowing across the south-western Thar desert and the effects of last year’s El Nino cycle.
Dust storms in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh also claimed over 12 lives on Thursday, according to an article in The Times of India.
Watch this video report from Al Jazeera on India’s record high temperatures:
by Graham Land
Additional resources:
Thaindian News – Brutal heatwave ‘roasts’ India and Pakistan
Tags: heat, heatwave, high, India, Indian, lives, record, temperature
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