Experts have blamed global warming for more frequent and intense heatwaves. (Representative Photo)
The record-breaking heat sweeping across the United States is having a deadly effect on the livestock, with Kansas reporting over 2,000 cattle dead, according to The Guardian. Shocking footage showing thousands of carcass first emerged on TikTok and later found its way on other social media platforms.
The video shows thousands of dead cattle lying dead across a ranch. NDTV cannot verify the claims made in the footage.
USA Today said that the cattle died over the weekend due to high humidity levels. The deaths were reported to Kansas Department of Health and Environment by facilities that reached out for help disposing of the carcasses, the outlet further said.
Around 120 million people were under some sort of advisory as a heat wave scorched the Upper Midwest and the Southeast US. Kansas too has been hit hard.
The state is among the top three beef producers in the US.
According to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), heatwaves in the country have steadily gone up by frequency, duration and intensity in four decades since the 1960s.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has warned that temperature will reach 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) in parts of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
"A dome of high pressure is expected to generate well-above-normal to record-breaking temperatures across the region," according to the NWS.
Experts have blamed global warming for more frequent and intense heatwaves. The say these can also have devastating economic impacts.
The European Environment Agency (EAA) estimates that heatwaves in 32 European countries between 1980 and 2000 cost 27 to 70 billion euros. Also, heatwaves and drought are major threats to agriculture, and thus food security.
In 2019, a heatwave caused a nine per cent drop in drop in maize yields across France, and a 10 per cent decline in wheat, according to the French agricultural ministry.
Heatwaves also have a negative impact on livestock production and on milk production, according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).