From 49.6C in Canada to 53.2C in Kuwait, Al Jazeera looks at where the hottest places are on Earth.
June was an exceptionally hot month for several countries in the northern hemisphere. Since Friday June 25, at least 486 sudden deaths have been recorded in Canada’s British Columbia province as temperatures soared to nearly 50C (122F). In the United States, the ongoing heatwave has buckled highways and melted power lines. A so-called “heat dome”, where high pressure traps the heat, is being blamed for the excessively high temperatures.
Record-breaking temperatures
On June 29, Lytton, a small town about 200km (124 miles) from Vancouver, hit 49.6C (121F), setting a national record for the highest temperature ever recorded across Canada. Schools, universities and vaccination centres were closed across British Columbia.
Just south of the border in the US state of Oregon, the city of Portland hit an all-time high of 46.6C (116F), breaking the previous high of 41.6C (107F), first set in 1965.
Kuwait – the hottest place on Earth in 2021
On June 22, the Kuwaiti city of Nuwaiseeb recorded the highest temperature in the world so far this year at 53.2C (127.7F). In neighbouring Iraq, temperatures reached 51.6C (124.8F) on July 1, 2021, with Omidiyeh, Iran, not far behind with a maximum temperature of 51C (123.8F) recorded so far. Several other countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia, recorded temperatures higher than 50C (112F) in June.
The Gulf is known for its hot and humid climate with temperatures regularly exceeding 40C (104F) in the summer months.
Hottest temperatures ever recorded
The map below shows the hottest temperatures ever recorded in each country around the world. At least 23 countries have recorded maximum temperatures of 50C (122F) or above.
Currently, the highest officially registered temperature is 56.7C (134F), recorded in California’s Death Valley back in 1913. The hottest known temperature in Africa is 55C (131F) recorded in Kebili, Tunisia in 1931. Iran holds Asia’s hottest official temperature of 54C (129F) which it recorded in 2017.
In 2020, Seymour Island in Antarctica recorded a maximum temperature of 20.7C (69.3F). According to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization (WMO), temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula have risen by almost 3C (5.4F) over the past 50 years.
How temperature is measured
The temperature that you see on the news or on the weather app on your phone relies on a network of weather stations positioned around the globe. To ensure accurate readings, weather stations use specialist platinum resistance thermometers placed in shaded instruments known as a Stevenson screen at a height of 1.25-2 metres (4-6 feet) above the ground.
There are two well-known scales used to measure temperature: Celsius and Fahrenheit. Only a few countries, including the US, use Fahrenheit as their official scale. The rest of the world uses the Celsius scale named after Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius who invented the 0-100 degree freezing and boiling point scale in 1742.
The world is getting hotter
A report published by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) found that the Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record.
GISS Director Gavin Schmidt said, “The last seven years have been the warmest seven years on record, typifying the ongoing and dramatic warming trend. Whether one year is a record or not is not really that important – the important things are long-term trends. With these trends, and as the human impact on the climate increases, we have to expect that records will continue to be broken.”
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Temperatures are set to soar in the UK this week, with predicted potential highs of 42C. Elsewhere in Europe, the heatwave is causing wildfires to rage in France, Spain and Portugal.
The current record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe is 48C, which was registered in Athens, Greece, in 1977. But last year regional authorities on the Italian island of Sicily registered a temperature of 48.8C on 11 August 2021.
If verified by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), it will be a new record for Europe.
Here are 10 other spots that are almost too hot to handle.
Death Valley, California, USA
The aptly named Furnace Creek currently holds the record for hottest air temperature ever recorded. The desert valley reached highs of 56.7C in the summer of 1913, which would apparently push the limits of human survival. There is debate over the validity of this temperature, but even if proved false Furnace Creek still comes top: a temperature of 54.4C was recorded in August 2020. Average temperature highs today reach 47C during summer, and it’s the driest place in the States.
The 10 hottest places on earth
Show all 10Ouargla, Algeria
The highest temperature ever reliably recorded in Africa was 51.3C in Ouargla in the Algerian Sahara desert, on 5 July 2018. There are plenty of historic claims for Africa’s hottest temperature – including 55C in Kebili, Tunisia, the current official record – but these all ring alarm bells because of the way they were recorded, at French and Italian military outposts during the colonial period.
Mitribah, Kuwait
Mitribah, a remote area of northwest Kuwait, hit a sweltering 53.9C on 21 July 2016. Not only was it the third highest temperature ever recorded, it’s also the highest temperature ever recorded for the continental region of Asia.
Dallol has the highest average temperature of an inhabited place
(Getty Images/Vetta)
Basra, Iraq
A temperature of 53.9C was recorded at Basra International Airport in Iraq on 22 July 2016.
Turbat, Pakistan
Turbat, a city located in southern Balochistan, Pakistan, recorded the fourth highest ever temperature on 28 May 2017: 53.7C.
Dallol, Ethiopia
This hydrothermal field with salt formations, acidic hot springs, and gas geysers had an average daily maximum temperature of 41C recorded from 1960 to 1966. These soaring numbers mean it has the highest average temperature of any inhabited place on earth.
Aziziyah, Libya
The former capital of the Jafara district, 25 miles south of Tripoli, used to claim the title of hottest place on earth – in 1922 the temperature was recorded as a sweltering 58C. However, it was stripped of its title in 2012 when meteorologists declared this invalid due to a number of factors, including the fact that the person who recorded it was inexperienced. However, the town still regularly experiences temperatures of over 48C in midsummer.
Kebili is a desert town known for its dates
(Getty Images)
Quriyat, Oman
The Omani city of Quriyat, which is located south-east of the capital Muscat, recorded the highest ever minimum – ie night-time – temperature on 26 June 2018. The mercury didn’t get below 42.6C that night, beating the previous record of 41.9C, also recorded in Oman.
Dasht-e Loot, Iran
This desert plateau has the hottest ground temperatures on the planet – satellite measurements taken between 2003 and 2009 found a maximum temperature of a staggering 70.7C. Needless to say, the region is uninhabited.
Ghadames is a Unesco world heritage site
(Getty Images)
Bandar-e Mahshahr, Iran
This sweltering city hit the second highest heat index on record – the heat index combines air temperature and relative humidity. Bandar-e Mahshahr registered a heat index of 74C in July 2015. The hottest recorded temperature there is 51C.
[This article was originally published in August 2020]