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WHILE China is just starting to heat up, people in India are already suffering from a powerful heat wave.
More than 570 people have died in the past two weeks as temperatures hit 50℃ in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. And the number of the deaths might increase further, said D.C. Roshaiah, chief of the state's rescue team.
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The government has told people to stay indoors to avoid the heat, but many poor people live in tin-roofed (锡顶的) houses that heat up like ovens (烤箱).
By afternoon, the heat is so powerful that everything stops. It is too hot even to move and there isn't even enough water to cool down.
The children sit in dark classrooms away from the sun and just wait for evening to arrive. But even then the nights are so uncomfortable it is difficult even to breathe.
Everyone looks to the southwest for the first sign of the rains. Only then does life start up again.
But humans are not the only victims of the heat. An elephant, in the state has died due to dehydration. And more than 1.4 million chickens have also died in the past week.
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| heat up: 热起来 avoid v. 避免 cool down: 凉下来 victim n. 受害者 due to: 由于 |
However, Roshaiah said the number of human deaths is, so far, much lower than last year when more than 1,000 people died in the southern state.
Weather experts are hoping the arrival of the yearly monsoon rains (季风雨) will bring temperatures down. The monsoon normally hits the southern Indian coast at the beginning of June.
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Rains come after a long Indian summer Southern India is always hot.The monsoon, also known as the "rainy season", usually arrives in early June and lasts until October. The word "monsoon" means "season" in Arabic. It returns every year to sub-tropical (亚热带) areas.The monsoon occurs because of the great temperature difference between the land and the sea. From May, the land heats up more quickly than the sea and strong winds blow in from the water. These bring rain, which hits the south of India before moving northwards. For many countries along the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic Oceans, the yearly monsoon rains are necessary for crops. In fact the monsoon brings about 90 per cent of India's water supply. Too much rain can bring floods and too little can bring drought (干旱). Last year, the rains dried up in July, causing the greatest drought India has seen for 40 years. |