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.  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)

Click for printer version.