6 Hottest Places on Earth

By Recob

– July, 15th 2013

By nature, humans are warm blooded. This explains why many people prefer warm climates to cold ones. Unfortunately, some regions around the world experience extremely high and intolerable temperatures.   If you think that the mild heat of summer is terrible, then that is nothing compared to the hottest places on earth. Surprisingly, some of the hottest places have human settlements and thriving business centers.

Let’s take a look at some of the most hottest places on earth that you won’t wish to live even for a minute.

Rub’ al Khali, Arabian Peninsula

Rub’al khali  opens the list of the driest and hottest places on earth. The highest ever recorded temperature was 133 degrees Fahrenheit.  This vast desert is not only sweltering hot, it’s also the biggest continuous sand desert in the world. Rub’ al Khali covers an area that’s almost a 1/3 Peninsula.  It extends from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, to the UAE.

Temperatures are always high and the weather hot and dry, and there is little respite for the thirsty desert when annual temperatures are lower than 1.2 inches. Rub’ al Khali is so hot and inhospitable that no human has ever crossed it on foot unsupported.

Dallol, Ethiopia

Dallol is an oppressively hot and dry ghost town in the Afar Depression, a volcanically active region in Ethiopia. Dallol holds the record for having the highest ever recorded annual average temperature. From 1960-1969, annual temperatures in Dallol averaged 94 degrees Fahrenheit.  Temperatures are always high and there almost no break from the heat throughout the year. Dallol has an elevation of 130m below the sea level which partly explains why it is hot. Heat comes from every direction right from the sun to the scorching ground.  The only attractions here are hydrothermal deposits.

Lut Dessert, Iran

Lut desert also joins the rank of the hottest places on earth. This region has a dry and hot dessert climate. In 2005, the highest ever recorded surface temperature,  159 degrees F, was recorded in a dry salt lake in this desert. Researchers claim discovered that unsterilized milk doesn’t spoil because bacteria won’t survive the desert heat. To prove this, they left unsterilized milk uncovered and came back to find it fresh, thus, declaring loot an abiotic zone. Lut desert is surrounded by mountains and is home to some of the tallest sand pyramids in the world.

Timbuktu, Mali

Although Timbuktu is famous for its rich history and heritage, it’s also one of the driest and oppressively hot cities in the world. Timbuktu seats at the junction of ancient trade routes in Sahara, Africa. Though it was once a thriving commercial and academic center in the Sahara, its rich heritage is nothing compared to the scorching heat and desert climate. Temperatures soar above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with the highest ever recorded at over 130 degrees Fahrenheit.  As a desert city, sand dunes loom over Timbuktu while streets are covered by windswept desert sand.   The nearest place to cool your heels is the Niger River located 15 miles away.

El Aziziya

El Azizia city in northwestern Libya is also one of the hottest places on earth. El Azizia is the capital of Jafara district. Maximum day temperatures here can soar up to 118 degrees Fahrenheit.  The highest ever recorded temperature was 136 degrees Fahrenheit.  Winds blowing ferociously from the Sahara Desert can increase temperatures by more than 20 degrees in a few hours. Despite its unbearable temperatures, El Aziziya remains a thriving commercial hub as it is perched on a vital trade route between the Mediterranean cost and the southern regions of Libya.

Death Valley, United States

You would be forgiven to think that the hottest places on earth are in far lung regions of Africa and Middle East.  That’s not the case. The Death Valley in Mojave Desert, California (USA) has an oppressively hot and dry weather. In fact, it’s the lowest, driest, and hottest places in North America.  The highest ever recorded temperature was 134 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the fact that Death Valley has parched landscapes and hot weather, there are some creatures that survive here. At night, kit foxes, rodents, bobcats, and big horn sheep forage in the higher elevations.  When rains fall, wildflowers rise from the parched dungeon bringing the dry and desolate desert into life.