Since 1922, there has been a cold war about a very hot temperature.  That’s the year that the highest temperature ever recorded was tracked in El Azizia, Libya.  On September 13, 1922, the daytime temperature hit a staggering 136.4 degrees, besting the 1913 summer reading of 134 degrees in Death Valley, California.  Having never been to Tunisia, I can’t possibly imagine how hot it must have been to get anywhere near the temperatures can get at Death Valley.  As it turns out, it wasn’t that hot.  Meteorologists have overturned the 136.4 degree reading, citing incosistencies in measurement.  Death Valley is once again the hottest place on earth, which is fitting because it’s practically an alien world.

“We found systematic errors in the 1922 reading,” admitted Rapporteur of Climate and Weather Extremes for the World Meteorological Organisation and Arizona State University President’s Professor in the School of Geographical Sciences Randy Cerveny.  “When we compared his observations to surrounding areas and to other measurements made before and after the 1922 reading, they simply didn’t match up.  This change to the record books required significant sleuthing and a lot of forensic records work.”

The idea of 134 degrees of dry desert heat makes me feel miserable, and I’m used to awful 100-degree weather and 90 percent humidity.  It’s difficult to breathe, but at least it’s not so dry it makes your eyeballs dry out and make your lips crack and bleed.

Tags: extreme weather, death valley, california, death valley crowned the hottest place on earth, hottest place on earth, death valley hottest place on earth, hottest temperature of all time, death valley highest temperature, highest temperature ever recorded, 134 degrees, el azizia, libya, Arizona State University, Randy Cerveny, world meteorological organization, rapporteur of climate and weather extremes

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