Millions of dead fish wash up near Australian town

Sydney, March 18: Residents in a regional Australian town have woken to find millions of dead fish in their river.

The large-scale fish deaths were first reported on Friday morning in the New South Wales' (NSW) town of Menindee, as per a BBC report.

The state's river authority said it was a result of an ongoing heatwave affecting the Darling-Baaka river.

Locals say it is the largest fish death event to hit the town, that experienced another significant mass death of fish just three years ago, the BBC reported.

Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense, and last longer because of human-induced climate change. The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

Speaking to the BBC, Menindee resident Graeme McCrabb warned that locals were anticipating that even more fish would die as the already decomposing fish sucked more oxygen from the water.

Around 500 people live in the town in far-west New South Wales. The Darling-Baaka river is a part of the Murray Darling Basin, Australia's largest river system.

The temperature in Menindee was expected to reach 41C on Saturday.