Arthur Pereira, edited by Juline Garnier 2:13 p.m., April 30, 2022
An exceptional heat wave is currently hitting India and some of its neighboring countries.
It is over 47 degrees in some parts of the country.
Extreme heat that causes power cuts, water shortages for millions of people who already suffer from great poverty.
An intense heat wave is suffocating India.
A "heat dome" phenomenon raises the temperature.
Meteorologists have recorded more than 47 degrees in some parts of the country.
This extreme heat causes power cuts and water shortages for millions of inhabitants who already suffer from extreme poverty.
In New Delhi, for example, the capital's landfills have been on fire since the middle of the week.
This Friday, around thirty firefighters were still fighting the flames in one of the country's huge landfills, hit hard by this heat wave.
The population is facing repeated power cuts.
The reason: the lack of coal, which does not allow the country's power stations to be sufficiently supplied.
And for Robert Vautard, research director at the CNRS, this episode of heat wave will have two major consequences.
Dramatic consequences for agriculture
"Extreme temperatures which do not come down at night over such a long period and over such a large area, with a population of hundreds of millions of inhabitants who are exposed, will have consequences in terms of excess mortality, in particular through the phenomena of 'hyperthermia which are unfortunately well known", he explains.
"If the monsoon does not arrive on time, the consequences for agriculture will be terrible with crop losses", adds the director.
>> READ ALSO -
Covid: India disputes the 4 million deaths attributed to it by a WHO study
A shortage of water is already felt for millions of inhabitants.
In India, more than half of the population lives below the poverty line and since 2010, heat waves have killed nearly 6,500 people in the country.
In the next few days, temperatures could be around 50 degrees in this region of the globe.