In a year that has seen the United States record its hottest month ever comes word that the country now owns the title of the hottest air temperature recorded on Earth.
The World Meteorological Organization, the weather and climate agency of the United Nations, has recognized Death Valley, California, as the place where the planet has seen its hottest day ever, July 10, 1913, when it reached 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 degrees Celsius).
Death Valley was able to lay claim to the title when the U.N. agency invalidated the previous record, 136.4 degrees F (58 degrees C), that was recorded at El Azizia, Libya, on September 13, 1922.
The Libyan mark was invalidated after an international panel of experts convened by the WMO concluded that there were five problems with the El Azizia observation: "(a) problematical instrumentation, (b) a likely inexperienced observer, (c) an observation site over an asphalt-like material which was not representative of the native desert soil, (d) poor matching of the extreme to other nearby locations and (e) poor matching to subsequent temperatures recorded at the site," the agency said in a press release.
The 1922 measurement was likely about 7 degrees C too high, the agency said.
Its investigation was conducted during 2010-2011 and included climate experts from Libya, Italy, Spain, Egypt, France, Morocco, Argentina, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The record is a bit of a coup for Death Valley, as the title of the world's hottest place is "as symbolic for meteorologists as Mount Everest is for geographers," the WMO said.
"Death Valley is famous as the hottest, driest and lowest place in North America," the National Park Service says on the park's website.
The 1913 record occurred during a year of extremes for Death Valley. The weather station at Greenland Ranch (now Furnace Creek Ranch) recorded a string of five days at 129 degrees F or above in July of that year, and on January 8, 1913, posted the record low for Death Valley, 15 degrees F (-10 degrees C).
Death Valley has reached the 129-degree mark four more times, in 1960, 1998, 2005 and 2007. The Park Service says Death Valley's hottest summer ever was in 1996, when it had 40 days higher than 120 degrees F (49 degrees C).
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Libya just can't catch a break these days.
Next, we're going to learn that Tripoli is actually in Tunisia.
don't make no difference...the hottest place on earth is soon to be the Whitehouse when Ahmadinejad drops an atomic bum squarely on it in a month of two!
Was that really necessary?
Romney is not a bum. There's a lot of other things I can call him, but he's not a bum. And I think you give Ahmadinejad too much credit by suggesting he can buy this election.
I don't think Israel needs to bum the place. Just disable the ability to keep things cool and let nature takes its course. That should do it.
First of all probably not a good thing to say anywhere as it can land you in some hot water second of all just how much damage would an atomic bum do
What about the Dallol depression?
So if we were to believe Global Warming is as serious as these people make it out too be, why haven't we broken this record in nearly 100 hundred years?
zlutz... You have a great point!!!
Death Valley is the entire globe?
So if you were as serious about the subject of global warming as you pretend to be, troll, you would do the research and answer your own question.
But of course, you're interested only in fooling people even stupider than yourself.
Actually I've done my own research. Global Warming is controlled by the Sun's Climate more so than humans could ever hope to have an impact on it.
It's a fair question, and the answer is fairly straightforward. Climate change is raising the average temperature globally to a varying extent, so that there are more and more record highs and fewer record lows each year. But that doesn't mean that you can guarantee that a specific spot is going to break a record in any given year. A number of factors had to converge perfectly on that July day in 1913 to get that record reading. Even as the climate warms overall, it's going to be difficult to redefine another "hottest spot ever on earth" in Death Valley since all those other factors will need to converge as well. What we are seeing is that, on average, Death Valley is hotter than in the past and the number of +110 degree days is greater than in 1913.
This just in, Pluto is cold
Ah, the cutest little planet that never was.
Once a planet, always a planet
We win...again...
Umm – it's not 2013 yet! The date given for the hottest day – July 10, 2013?
1913. Are you literate?
No. He is not.
I've got my beach towel, my SPF 50 and my Foster Grants. What more do I need?
CNN will never post my comments. What is the deal?
I have a story to tell about World Civ. class, and volunteering an answer about death valley, but CNN won't post it no matter what.
Here's the story. 1993 high school world civ. teacher: tell us about desert climates?
So I raise my hand and explain what I learned on a placemat from a greek restaurant. Death valley has the hottest temperature, I say.
Then the teacher corrects me and tells me it is Libya. He cites a world fact book or something.
Now we see that my greek restaurant placemat was right all along.
If you think that Death Valley is the hottest place on earth you are sorely mistaken and have not done any research on the Temperatures of the Middle East where it can get to be a scorching 140 degrees. Not to mention that you have all of us service men and women wearing full battle rattle and running convoy escorts and route clearance. All of which are done in the heat of the day.
Yes, but that's in the sun. The official records are recorded in shade under standard conditions. Yes, you'll be much hotter if you take a reading in the sun standing on, say, asphault.