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Extreme Weather Events, New Temperature Records
Whether you believe in climate change or not, it is apparent that extreme weather events are occurring more frequently. Disastrous flooding, scorched earth and dry heat that causes wildfires and life-threatening temperatures have given humans and our friends in the natural world an anxiety-inducing indication of what the future holds.
Weather and temperature records will, in all likelihood, be broken within decades; below, you'll discover the hottest and coldest temperatures recorded so far on this planet we call home.
What Was the Hottest Temperature Recorded on Earth?
The hottest temperature ever recorded on planet Earth was 56.7 degrees Celsius, which is 134.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This occurred on the 10th of July, 1913, at Greenland Ranch in the U.S.A.'s Death Valley, California. In 1933, the ranch was renamed Furnace Creek Ranch, and it's still blisteringly hot.
Libya's El Azizia registered temperatures of 58 degrees Celsius (136.4), but this record was disqualified in 2012, 90 years after it was made. The United Nations World Meteorology Organisation argued that the claim could have been inaccurate because El Azizia measured the air temperature against asphalt, which could have affected the figures.
The Hottest Place on Earth
It probably won't surprise you to learn that Death Valley is officially the hottest place on Earth, with average daily air temperatures of 46.1/115 degrees at Furnace Creek. The greatest ground temperature in history and in the valley was a mind-boggling 93.9/ 201 degrees. This was recorded on 15th July 1972.
A healthy human body temperature is approximately 37 degrees Celsius, with slight variations caused by age, weight and activity. Above this temperature, hyperthermia occurs. Proteins break down, and the brain is irreparably damaged in temperatures above 42.3 degrees Celsius.
What Was the Coldest Temperature on Earth?
On 21st July 1983, the Vostok Station, Antarctica, recorded a thoroughly inhospitable -89.2 degrees Celsius or -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit. It remains the lowest official temperature since records began in 1912.
The station is located approximately 1300km from the geographic south pole on the East Antarctic ice sheet and is at an elevation of 3420m above sea level. There is no sunlight during the winter months (June, July and August), and the combination of calm air and clear skies led to the record-breaking cold.
Information online states the figure was -89.4, but this was explained as an error in conversion between Fahrenheit and Celsius. The -89.2 was recorded in the log book at Vostok Station, so it is taken as the correct value.
The previous cold temperature record was also at Vostok Station. On 24th August 1960 -88.3/-126.9 was documented.
August 2010: Antarctica Temperature Record Unofficially Broken
Even lower temperatures were recorded in East Antarctica in August 2010. The temperature apparently went down to -94.7 Celsius (-138.4 Fahrenheit), but this event was not declared until five years later.
So, why is this not the record-holding coldest temperature? It was recorded by a satellite and not in the location with a thermometer, so the Guinness Book of Records has decided that the claim doesn't count. Therefore, the -89.2 record stands. Of course, the reason for the dismissal of the -94.7 claim hasn't satisfied everyone.
Mild hypothermia occurs when the core human body temperature is between 32-35 degrees Celsius. Hypothermia can lead to death in the worst cases, and sufferers' symptoms include a weak pulse, drowsiness, confusion, slurred speech and shallow breathing, so -89.2 would obviously mean a death sentence for an unprotected human.
The Coldest Temperature Under Laboratory Conditions
According to LiveScience.com, in the summer of 2021 scientists broke the record for the lowest temperature registered under laboratory conditions when they dropped magnetised gas down a tower. The result? A staggering -273.15 degrees Celsius or -459.6 in Fahrenheit.
That temperature is similar to the average in the Boomerang Nebula in the Centaurus Constellation, approximately 5000 light years from us. It's definitely not the ideal holiday destination should humans ever achieve long-haul space travel.
As more regions of the world experience life-threatening weather events, it will be a monumental challenge to live with and to survive what nature has in store for us and future generations.
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