Why would a lightning-struck tree glow after being hit?
It is not on fire and does not give off heat, but glows.
It was a dark and stormy night. Chris emails he
was walking in the woods "a little after a thunderstorm" when he
noticed the tree. The tree, shattered by an earlier lightning
stroke, stabbed the night like a broken pike. An eerie glow extended ...
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Hottest spot on Earth
Where is the hottest place on Earth? I'm guessing it's somewhere like the
Sahara. What, if any, humans live there and how do they eke out a living?
Tinjoy, Cebu, Philippines
The hottest spot is Al-‘Aziziyah, a small town in Libya, a few miles south
of Tripoli. On Sep. 13, 1922, here the temperature soared to 136 degrees F (58
degrees C) — the highest ever recorded on Earth.
Al-'Aziziyah, Libya---the hot spot. Map courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps
used with permission.
Strangely enough, people do eke out a good living in this North African town
a few miles south of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a major trade center of the
Al-Jifarah plain, about 200 miles (300 km) north of the Sahara. What’s more, the
gray-brown soils of the Al-Jifarah Plain are fertile, though salty from over
irrigation.
Most hot places are in deserts (as you guessed) and low land, like Death
Valley, California—the second hottest spot and the lowest place (-178 feet, -54
m) in the Western Hemisphere. On July 10, 1913, Death Valley recorded a high of
134 degrees (57 degrees C).
A lowland is hotter because air warms as it descends just as air cools as it
ascends.
Less than 100 miles west of the Red Sea, nestled in the Danakil Plain, lies
Dakol in northeastern Ethiopia. This place suffers the world’s highest
year-round average temperature—94 degrees F (34 degrees C), with zooming highs
of 125 degrees F (52 degrees C). The flat, barren African plain—broken by an
occasional volcanic cone— stretches like a widening funnel to the sea. The plain
drops at places to 380 feet below sea level. Sometimes no rain falls during a
year. The parched soil is too poor to farm.
![An African desert at sunset [Corel]](http://www.wonderquest.com/images/2003-07-25-desert.jpg) An
African desert at sunset. Photo courtesy of Corel.
The few who live here—the Danakil— make a living prying loose slabs of solid
salt from the plain’s salt pans. Others herd sheep, goats, cattle, and camels
over the lonely steppes.
Further Surfing:
Hottest recorded temperature on Earth, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
USA Today weather: Highs
and lows
Theodora: maps and flags
Theodora and CIA World Fact Book: Libya
(Answered July 25, 2003)
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