High Temperature at Death Valley
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Environment
- Published
19th Aug, 2020
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- Recently, Death Valley (USA) registered a temperature of 54.4°C which, once verified, could be the highest temperature in more than a century.
- According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Death Valley’s all-time record high is 56.7°C taken on 10th July 1913 at Greenland Ranch.
- It still stands as the hottest ever recorded on the planet’s surface.
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), extreme heat can exacerbate pre-existing health conditions, including respiratory diseases, heart conditions and kidney disorders.
- The immediate effects on the human body are heat cramps, dehydration and even potentially fatal heat strokes.
- It can also have a severe impact on agriculture and forests.
- It either causes vegetables to wilt and die or encourage the spread of plant diseases.
- It causes wildfires which lead to forest cover reduction and death of fauna.
- It affects infrastructure too by straining power grids and causing blackouts. It can ground planes, melt roads and cause the inside of vehicles to overheat to dangerous levels.
