Record-breaking heat is driving a sharp rise in livestock deaths and fish kills across South Jeolla Province and Gwangju, where heat wave advisories have been in effect continuously since July 9 — 27 days straight.
The South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city said Tuesday that four farms in the region reported a combined 10,781 livestock deaths that day.
The animals included 9,878 chickens, 511 ducks and 392 pigs, with property losses estimated at 97 million won ($67,800).
Since the start of this year, heat has killed 85,077 animals across 155 farms, causing total damage of 1.12 billion won, according to city figures.
In Wando, two fish farms reported an additional 1,700 flounder deaths.
High water temperatures have now killed 115,800 flounder in total, pushing aquaculture losses to 496 million won based on restoration cost estimates.
The cumulative number of heat-related illness cases in the region climbed to 197 from May 15, when the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency began tracking, through Monday.
Extreme heat alerts were issued for Gwangju Dongbu, Jangseong, Gwangyang, Suncheon and Gokseong, while standard heat wave warnings remained in place across 17 other cities and counties, including Gwangju Seobu.
Daytime highs Tuesday reached 39.8 degrees Celsius at Chosun University, 38.7 degrees in Gwangyang-eup, 38.6 degrees in Gwangju, 38.5 degrees in Suncheon's Hwangjeon, 38.4 degrees in Gokseong's Seokgok and 38.1 degrees in Jangseong.
sij@heraldcorp.com
