Indians are suffering from temperatures topping 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) and nearing 122 F (50 C) in some states where amenities like air conditioning are rare. More than 1,000 deaths have been blamed on the heat wave so far, and the extreme heat is projected to continue through the week's end.

Such heat waves are a frequent occurrence in the weeks before India's monsoon season and they sometimes bring with them a similarly brutal death toll, said Upmanu Lall, a senior research scientist at Columbia University's International Research Institute for Climate and Society. This year's temperatures are higher than normal, largely because of warmer than usual sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific ? a sign of an emerging El Nino pattern.

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