THE COLDEST AND HOTTEST PLACES ON EARTH

KLINCK RESEARCH STATION, GREENLAND

ONE OF EARTH'S COLDEST PLACES

BEGINNING OUR TOP FIVE COLDEST PLACES AND BARELY EDGING

OUT NORTH ICE, GREENLAND, THE KLINCK RESEARCH STATION

IN GREENLAND HAS CHARTED TEMPERATURES AS LOW AS

-92 DEGREES F (-69.4 DEGREES C). THIS STATION WITHIN THE

ARCTIC CIRCLE IS LOCATED ON A NUNATAK (OR GLACIAL

ISLAND). A ROCKY RIDGE OR MOUNTAIN NOT COVERED

IN ICE BUT ON THE EDGE OF A GLACIER.

VERKHOYANSK, RUSSIA

VERKHOYANSK IN RUSSIA MAINTAINS A WINTER MONTH AVERAGE

OF -50 DEGREES F (-45.4 DEGREES C). FOR COMPARISON,

MOSCOW’S WINTER MONTH AVERAGE IS 16 DEGREES F

(-8.8 DEGREES C). BELIEVE IT OR NOT, VERKHOYANSK BOASTS

A PORT AND AN AIRPORT DESPITE THE FRIGID WEATHER.

OYMYAKON, RUSSIA, THE COLDEST

INHABITED PLACE ON EARTH

THE COLDEST INHABITED PLACE ON EARTH, OYMYAKON, RUSSIA,

IS IN THE BRUTAL HEART OF SIBERIA. THIS HAS NOT STOPPED

ITS 472 RESIDENTS FROM GOING ABOUT THEIR DAILY LIVES,

INCLUDING TAKING THE BUS AND RAISING CATTLE, IN THE

RECORD COLD OF -96 DEGREES F (-71.2 DEGREES C).

THE GROUND IS PERMANENTLY FROZEN SO SOME

RESIDENTS MUST GO TO AN OUTHOUSE AWAY FROM

THEIR HOME TO USE THE TOILET.

MOUNT MCKINLEY, ALASKA

SECOND COLDEST PLACE ON EARTH

ALASKA’S MOUNT MCKINLEY, ALSO CALLED DENALI, IS THE

HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN NORTH AMERICA AND THE COLDEST

MOUNTAIN ON EARTH. WINTER TEMPERATURES GENERALLY FALL

TO -40 DEGREES F (-40 DEGREES C) AND HAVE GONE AS LOW

AS -101 DEGREES F (-73.8 DEGREES C) IN THIS SECOND

COLDEST PLACE ON EARTH.

RIDGE BETWEEN DOME FUJI & DOME ARGUS,

ANTARCTICA, THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD

ANTARCTICA COULD EASILY TAKE THE FIRST FOUR PLACES ON

THE LIST OF THE COLDEST PLACES IN THE WORLD WITH

VOSTOK RESEARCH STATION, DOME A, AND THE AMUNDSEN-SCOTT

SOUTH POLE STATION TAKING SPOTS 2-4, RESPECTIVELY -BUT A LIST

WOULD BE BORING IF IT WAS JUST THOSE! THOUGH ALL THESE

LOCATIONS BEAR SHOCKINGLY LOW TEMPERATURES, THE

COLDEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD WAS MEASURED ON A

RIDGE BETWEEN DOME FUJI AND DOME ARGUS BY AN

AMERICAN SATELLITE IN 2010 AS A DASTARDLY COLD

-136 DEGREES F (-93.2 DEGREES C).

DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, USA

HOTTEST PLACE IN NORTH AMERICA

THE DRIEST SPOT IN NORTH AMERICA IS ALSO ITS HOTTEST

THOUGH ONLY FIFTH IN OUR TOP FIVE HOTTEST PLACES IN THE

WORLD. CALIFORNIA’S DEATH VALLEY IS THE LOWEST PLACE

IN NORTH AMERICA AND SET ITS RECORD OF 135 DEGREES F

(57 DEGREES C) IN 1913. LOCAL HIGH PRESSURE AIR

CURRENTS KEEPS THE AIR CIRCULATING BUT THERE IS NOT

MUCH OF A COOLING BREEZE AS HOT AIR JUST BEGETS HOT AIR.

EL AZIZIA, LIBYA

FORMER HOTTEST PLACE ON EARTH

FORMERLY HOLDING THE RECORD AS THE HOTTEST PLACE ON

EARTH, LIBYA’S EL AZIZIA IS JUST SOUTH OF THE CAPITAL,

TRIPOLI. DESPITE ITS PROXIMITY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN

SEA, EL AZIZIA HAS AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF

117 DEGREES F (47 DEGREES C) AND REACHED

136 DEGREES F (57.78 DEGREES C) IN 1922 (THOUGH THIS IS

DISPUTED AS THERE MAY HAVE BEEN A THERMOMETER

MALFUNCTION).

TURPAN, CHINA

THIRD HOTTEST PLACE ON EARTH

BEYOND BEING THE THIRD HOTTEST PLACE ON EARTH, TURPAN,

CHINA IS ALSO THE THIRD-LOWEST EXPOSED SPOT ON ITS

SURFACE. DARK RED SANDSTONE ABSORBS THE SUN’S RAYS

AND BROUGHT THE AREA UP TO A RECORD 152 DEGREES F

(66.8 DEGREES C) IN 2008.

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

HOTTEST PLACE IN AUSTRALIA

THOUGH MOST PEOPLE THINK OF AUSTRALIA AS HOT ALL OVER,

SOME PLACES ARE WAY HOTTER THAN OTHERS. QUEENSLAND

IS MASSIVE, DRY AND HOT, RECORDING A BLISTERING

157 DEGREES F (69.3 DEGREES C) BY A NASA SATELLITE IN 2003.

DASHT E LUT, IRAN

HOTTEST PLACE IN THE WORLD

IRAN’S LUT DESERT TAKES THE TOP OF THE PILE FOR THE

HOTTEST PLACE IN THE WORLD. IN 2005, TEMPERATURES

REACHED A STAGGERING 160 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT

(71 DEGREES C). SCIENTISTS HAVE NOT EVEN FOUND

BACTERIA ABLE TO SURVIVE IN THIS DESERT.