A viral video shows fields looking like mass graves in the agricultural state of Kansas, where temperatures have exceeded 40°C.
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The total number of dead animals remains uncertain. After a sharp rise in temperatures, at least 2,000 cattle were found dead in the state of Kansas, in the center of the United States, reported the news agencies AP and Reuters, Thursday June 16, confirming the finding observed by a viral video showing fields that look like mass graves, relayed here by a journalist from Slate.fr.
Several American states are currently facing scorching temperatures. In Kansas, several thousand cattle died during this heat (+ humidity) wave. Terrifying pictures. pic.twitter.com/phcjFePM7W
— Theo Laubry (@TheoLaubry) June 17, 2022
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment told AP that the toll could rise further.
“Cattle suffered from heat stress as temperatures and humidity rose over the weekend in western Kansas and cooling winds subsided”explained the spokeswoman for the Kansas Livestock Association, an association of farmers, to the Reuters agency. “Animals could not acclimate to the sudden change.” In this agricultural region, temperatures exceeded 40 ° C at the start of the week and could rise further on Saturday and Sunday, according to the forecasting institute World Weather Inc.
Author of a report published in 2021 on the effects of global warming on herds, climatologist Philip Thornton, quoted by The Guardianassures him: “What is certain is that the problem of heat stress in herds (and humans too, for that matter) will become an increasing challenge for livestock keepers, as the planet warms up.”