Move Over, Death Valley: These Are the Two Hottest Spots On Earth

sciencehabit writes: Death Valley holds the record for the highest air temperature on the planet: On July 10, 1913, temperatures at the aptly named Furnace Creek area in the California desert reached a blistering 56.7C (134.1F). Average summer temperatures, meanwhile, often rise above 45C (113F). But when it comes to surface temperature, two spots have Death Valley beat. A new analysis of high-resolution satellite data finds the Lut Desert in Iran and the Sonoran Desert along the Mexican-U.S. border have recently reached a sizzling 80.8C (177.4F). The study uncovered other superlatives. The maximum temperature swing in a single day was 81.8C (147.3F), from -23.7C (-10.7F) to 58.1C (136.6F) on July 20, 2006 in China's Qaidam Basin, a crescent-shaped depression hemmed in by mountains on the Tibetan Plateau. And the coldest spot on our planet? No big surprise: Antarctica. But a satellite reading of 0110.9C (-167.6F) in 2016 is more than 20 degrees chillier than the coldest air temperature recorded in 1983. The findings have been reported in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

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