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Southeast Asia and India are currently enduring a historic and brutal heat wave that has already been blamed for more than 150 deaths and shows few signs of relenting.
April in Thailand is typically hot and sweaty, but this year's scorching weather has set a record for the longest heat wave in at least 65 years.
The temperature in Sukhothai, Thailand spiked to 44.3 degrees Celsius, or 111.7 degrees Celsius, on April 12 — just short of the all-time national record. Surrounding countries have set all-time temperature records for any month of the year during this April heat wave.
Chris Burt, a weather historian at Weather Underground, said Cambodia and Laos each set all-time record highs for any day of the year during this month. In Cambodia, Burt reported, the temperature climbed to 42.6 degrees Celsius, or 108.7 degrees Fahrenheit, in Preah Vihea on April 15.
In Thailand, a new record for national energy consumption was reached on April 26, according to the Associated Press.
In India, April can also be a particularly stifling month as the country warms before the monsoon rains arrive. This year, however, the April heat has been extreme.
A key contributor to the heat waves is a waning El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which can lead to dry and hot conditions in Southeast Asia and India at this time of year. Scientific studies show that global warming is also enhancing the likelihood of heat waves as well as making them more severe.

This image released by NASA's Earth Observatory Team from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), an instrument on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, shows the land surface temperature as observed by MODIS in Asia between April 15 to April 23, 2016. Yellow shows the warmest temperatures.

A man walks across the dried cracks of Earth from part of the Manjara Dam Project on April 11, 2016. The dam located in Dhanegaon, India once supplied nine nearby regions but has been dried up due to consecutive years of drought.

A man drinks water during a heat wave in New Delhi, India on April 3, 2016. The maximum temperature reached 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

Indian men remove dead fish and try to rescue the surviving ones from the Vastrapur Lake that dried up due to hot weather in Ahmadabad, India on April 24, 2016.

Indian men at the dry Vastrapur Lake on April 24, 2016.

A Cambodian girl fills water in a container at a village in Kandal province on April 27, 2016. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday ordered all authorities nationwide to help supply water to people as the country is experiencing its worst drought in four decades.

Indian Hindu devotees cover their faces to protect themselves from a dust storm and heat waves as they return after taking a holy dip at Holy Sangam in Allahabad on April 12, 2016.

A pedestrian walks across the street holding an umbrella to protect her from the sun in Asoke district of Bangkok on April 26, 2016.

Cambodian men use a net to catch fish in a nearly dried pond at a village in Kandal province, Cambodia on April 27, 2016.

A crow drinks water from a tap on a hot day in Ahmadabad, India on April 25, 2016.

Children play along the dry banks of the Pahang River as schools remain closed due to the ongoing heatwave in Termerloh, outside Kuala Lumpur on April 11, 2016. More than 250 Malaysian schools were closed on April 11.

Dead fish are pictured on the dry banks of the Pahang river during the ongoing heatwave on April 11, 2016.

Children walk on the beach of the remaining Pahang river in Termerloh, outside Kuala Lumpur on April 11, 2016.

People collect water from KMC water source during a hot day in Kolkata, India on April 11, 2016.

A huge well dries up due to consecutive years of droughts in Lature, India on April 11, 2016.
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