Earth Equity News

Hundreds Die in Indian Heatwave. By Jason Burke, Guardian UK, May 30 2010. “Record temperatures in northern India have claimed hundreds of lives in what is believed to be the hottest summer in the country since records began in the late 1800s. The death toll is expected to rise with experts forecasting temperatures approaching 50C (122F) in coming weeks… Hospitals in Gujarat have been receiving around 300 people a day suffering from food poisoning and heat stroke, ministers said. Officials admit the figures are only a fraction of the total as most of the casualties are found in remote rural villages. Wildlife and livestock has also suffered with voluntary organisations in Gujarat reporting the deaths of bats and crows and dozens of peacocks reported dead at a forest reserve in Uttar Pradesh. ‘Because of the heat, lakes and other water bodies have been reduced to parched land, making dehydration common in such birds,’ said Neeraj Srivastava, a wildlife campaigner. Even India's northern hill stations – historically a refuge from the heat – have not escaped… After a drought last year, India's farmers are now impatient for the arrival of the monsoon, which irrigates 60% of India's fields. National meteorologists have forecast ‘normal’ rains for this year, a relief in a country where prices of basic foodstuffs have rocketed in recent months due to growing shortages and structural problems with agriculture…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. Mean temperatures for both March and April were the highest in more than 100 years.”