Why is Death Valley the hottest place on Earth? I thought it would be somewhere on the equator.
In: Geology
Lots of reasons. At high altitudes, there is less air density; as the air goes down it heats up and compresses. The air that gets to Death Valley also has to cross the Sierra Nevada range to the west, which has peaks above 14,000 feet. That really dries out the air too. So it is hot, dry air coming down to fill the Valley.
By the equator, there is a lot more water, on average, which keeps things cooler and more stable. Water can store up a lot of energy, and it takes a lot of energy to increase the temperature. It’s much easier to heat air and rock.
And then California typically has no rain for about 6 months of the year. So Death Valley gets no spring, summer, or fall rain, the clouds that pass by have hit the Sierras and had all the moisture wrung out of them, the air has to go over several large mountain ranges (Telescope Peak that overlooks Death Valley is 11,000 feet itself), and then the dry air gets heated further as it travels down from the Panamint range into the bottom of the valley.
All the answers here are missing a key component. The placards in the park explain that the air in death valley gets trapped between the mountains on either side. It cant escape. So it gets super heated because theres no ventilation. Add in no water, no clouds, no rain, and low altitude and you have the perfect storm.
Also, there’s a lack of weather stations in very hot places like Iran, Sahara desert, East Africa and Pakistan.
The Dasht-e Lut desert of Iran for example might be a good contender for the hottest place on Earth but its lacking in weather stations.
Just like there are likely colder places on Earth than Vostok Station in Antarctica(Dome A and Dome F) but you can’t prove it without weather stations.
[deleted]
Death Valley only has the record for hottest temperature recorded at any one time. On average, the hottest place on earth is actually a place in Ethiopia where the ancient Skeleton of Lucy was found. It’s at the seam between 3 tectonic plates that are moving apart and the area is slowly sinking into a lava lake. The bogs there are highly acidic and nearly boiling because of how close the subterranean lava is to the surface.
Also a place near the equator might have the hottest average temperature. I think Death Valley only holds the record for the hottest temperature recorded. It could be cold there in the winter. At the equator it’s gonna be hot all year round.
Low altitude, very dry weather.
Air gets cooler at high altitudes and warmer at low altitudes, which is why you see mountains with snow capped peaks, and Death Valley is 282 feet below sea level (far enough that you could have a 20 story building in Death Valley, and it’s peak would just be at Sea Level), so that helps it get extremely hot.
Additionally, death valley is in the middle of a desert, and there is almost no humidity. Water vapor in the air, tends to make things not as hot in terms of peak temperature, and not as cold in terms of low temperature. Dry desert air on the other hand can have wild temperature swings because the solar energy all goes into changing the temperature (sensible heat) rather than changing the levels of the water in the air (latent heat). There is over a 30 degree temperature swing in Death Valley from night to morning, in other hot, but humid, areas like New Orleans or Houston, that temperature swing is closer to 20 degrees. Bigger temperature swings help with reaching higher high temperatures.
Places close to the equator usually have tropical climate. That means it’s often cloud covered and there is frequent rain, which cools it down a little. The death valley is in a subtropical climate, that means there’s still a lot of sunshine, but without the clouds and rain.
The reason that the death valley is particularly hot is the same reason that places high up in the mountains are usually cold: The heat from sunshine can easily go through the atmosphere, but the air acts like a blanket for heat coming from the ground back to space. Since death valley is below sea level, there’s more air which can trap the heat inside.
Latest Answers