News: Death Valley has registered a temperature of 54.4 degrees Celsius or 129.9 degrees Fahrenheit which could be the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
Facts:
- Death Valley: It is a desert valley in Eastern California,US in the northern Mojave Desert bordering the Great Basin Desert.
- It is one of the hottest places on Earth along with deserts in the Middle East and the Sahara.
Reasons for extreme Heat in Death Valley:
- Solar heating: The valley’s surface undergoes intense solar heating because the air is clear and dry and the land is dark and sparsely vegetated.This is especially noticeable in summer when the sun is nearly directly overhead.
- Trapping of warm air: Warm air naturally rises and cools.But in Death Valley this air is subject to continual reheating as it is trapped by high, steep valley walls and recycled back to the valley floor.Warm air also is trapped by the valley’s north–south orientation which runs perpendicular to prevailing west-to-east winds.
- Migration of warm air from other areas (advection): Warm desert regions adjacent to Death Valley, especially to the south and east often heat air before it arrives in Death Valley.
- Warm mountain winds: As winds are forced up and over mountains (e.g. the numerous ranges west of Death Valley), the winds can be warmed in several ways.The resulting dry, warm winds are known as foehn winds.
