At least 96 people They’re dead due to the heat waves that have affected two of the most populous states of northern India in recent days. 54 people died in the Ballia area of Uttar Pradesh in the north of the country, where about 300 were hospitalized for heat-related symptoms, including fever, breathing difficulties and heart problems; in the northeastern state of Bihar, 42 people died in the space of two days. Local health authorities said most of the dead were over 60 and had pre-existing problems that were likely exacerbated by the high temperatures: on Sunday, for example, in the Ballia area, maximum temperatures reached 43°C, exceeding 5 °C the maximum usually recorded in this period of the year.
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April, May and June are the hottest months in most of India, but hot spells have become more frequent over the past decade. According to a study by the World Weather Attribution, an international group of climate scientists, the heat wave that affected the state of Maharashtra in April, the one in which Mumbai is located, had been made 30 times more likely due to the climate crisis. It is estimated that in the last 50 years in India, periods of intense heat have caused the death of more than 17,000 people, about 6,500 of which from 2010 to today.