The Hottest places on Earth

There are extreme temperatures on Earth, ranging from the cold Arctic to the sultry Sahara. But where is the hottest place on our planet?

Below, we list the 10 hottest places in the world by the highest recorded temperatures.

Although it won’t always be as hot in the places listed, the record temperatures indicate a high average temperature. If you visit each of these places, bring plenty of water and a hat.

The 10 hottest places on Earth

1. Dasht-e Lut Desert, Iran

California’s Death Valley was long considered the hottest place on Earth, but in 2021, NASA researchers suggested estimating the heated surface rather than the air temperature. Now, the Iranian Deshte-Lut desert and North American Sonora share first place in the hottest places on the planet. In 2018, the Earth warmed up to +80.8 °C in both places, which became the highest temperature on the planet.

However, the Deshte-Lut desert is still considered the hottest place because weather records are set more often. This is because it is located between a mountain range that traps hot air. Even though there is almost no vegetation in the desert, many microorganisms live here, and in 2020, crustaceans were found in a small seasonal lake.

2. Sonoran Desert, USA, Mexico

The Sonoran desert is one of the largest and hottest in North America: the air warms up to +40 °C during the day and cools down to +2 °C at night. The record daytime temperature was recorded in Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, in 2012: +46 °C. However, as mentioned above, the Earth’s surface can warm up to +80.8 °C.

The symbol of these places is the saguaro cactus, whose thickets form a real forest. Other plants, reptiles, birds, and mammals live here. The heat rising above the ground attracts moist air masses from the Gulf of California and the Gulf of Mexico, and there are two rainy seasons in the Sonoran desert every year.

3. Death Valley, USA

What was the highest temperature recorded in Death Valley? In 1913, near the Furness Creek, California village, the air warmed to +56.7 °C. Visit. A F R I N I K . C O M . For the full article. The lowest temperature was recorded in the same year, at -10 °C.

Death Valley is the driest place in North America, with rainfall of about 5 mm per year. By comparison, 600-800 mm of precipitation falls annually in Moscow. Interestingly, about 12,000 years ago, Death Valley was covered with water.

4. Kelibia City, Tunisia

The highest recorded air temperature in Kelibia is +55 °C, set in July 1931. This Tunisian city is located in an oasis, but precipitation is rare, and palm trees and a humid wind bring freshness to the locals. Kelibia is a fishing port, and the beaches in the vicinity of the city attract tourists.

5. Tirat Zvi settlement, Israel

In 1942, Tirat Zvi recorded the highest temperature in Asia: +53.9 °C. Later, a similar record was set in the Kuwaiti city of Mitriba, and the palm passed to him.

About 900 people live in the settlement of Tirat-Zvi. Although the Jordan River supports the region’s fertility, the sun’s rays literally burn out the valley in summer.

6. Mitribah Weather Station, Kuwait

A weather station located in the northwest of Kuwait recorded a temperature of +53.9 °C in 2016, and in 2021, the maximum was +52.8 °C. Kuwait’s hottest period begins in mid-July and lasts for about 40 days. Global warming will continue to raise temperatures and humidity levels in the Persian Gulf countries, and by the end of the century, the Middle East, including Kuwait, may become uninhabitable.

7. Turbat City, Pakistan

A record of +53.7 °C was set in the Pakistani city of Turbat on May 28, 2017. The settlement is located on the left bank of the Ketch River. Summers are long, stuffy, and arid, and winters are short, dry, and windy. The temperature rarely drops below +6 °C and rises above +46 °C, mostly ranging from +10 °C to +40 °C.

8. Ouargla City, Algeria

In 2018, the highest air temperature in observations was officially recorded in the Sahara Desert: +51.3 °C. The air warmed to this level in the Algerian city of Ouargla, where about 190,000 people live.

Previously, it was believed that the record in the Sahara was set on September 13, 1922, in the Libyan town of El Azizia: +58 °C. However, in 2012, experts from the World Meteorological Organization officially declared it invalid, stating that the measurement error was about seven degrees.

9. Onslow, Australia

Australia’s highest temperature was recorded in January 2022. In the coastal town of Onslow, thermometers showed +50.7 °C. The last time the same figures were recorded was in 1962 in the city of Oodnadatt in South Australia.

It’s summer on the continent, and the average temperature in Onslow at this time of year is usually +36.5 °C. Meteorologists believe that due to global warming, it may rise.

10. Russia. Utta Village: + 45.4 °C

The highest temperature in Russia was recorded in the village of Utta in the Yashkulsky district of Kalmykia in 2010. The temperature rose to +45.4 °C, setting an absolute record for the country’s entire history of weather observations.

About 700 people live in Utta, which has a school, kindergarten, and post office. The village’s main value is its wells. In the hottest place in Russia, the purest water is available, which was used to make beer and lemonade during the Soviet years.