{"id":24371,"date":"2023-02-25T18:00:57","date_gmt":"2023-02-25T17:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=62558"},"modified":"2023-02-25T19:35:16","modified_gmt":"2023-02-25T18:35:16","slug":"earths-most-extreme-towns-inside-the-hottest-wettest-and-riskiest-settlements-on-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/earths-most-extreme-towns-inside-the-hottest-wettest-and-riskiest-settlements-on-the-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"Earth\u2019s most extreme towns: Inside the hottest, wettest and riskiest settlements on the planet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Intense heat, freezing temperatures and deadly active volcanoes \u2013 meet the people living in the world’s harshest climates. <\/p>

By James Cutmore\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 25 February 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The climate crisis and the increase in extreme weather<\/a> events across the globe have made life difficult for many people who are already living in vulnerable areas.<\/p>\n

Freezing temperatures<\/a>, pollution, and lack of resources are the main barriers to healthy lives, as well as natural hazards like volcanoes<\/a> and hurricanes<\/a>. However, in many places people will put up with such\u00a0dangers just to make a living, or to stay where their families have resided for generations.<\/p>\n

We take a look at some of the harshest environments where people manage to survive.<\/p>\n

Hottest place \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Araouane, Mali<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Araouane, the last settlement north of Timbuktu before the empty expanse of the Sahara Desert, Mali. Photo by Wade Davis\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Araouane may well be the hottest inhabited place on Earth. Surrounded by barren desert, pounded by hideous sandstorms known as \u2018harmattan\u2019, and no rain to speak of, the 300 or so inhabitants of this village can bake in average summer temperatures of 46\u00baC. But as an important transport hub for the mining and transportation of salt, somebody\u2019s got to live there.<\/p>\n

Coldest place \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Oymyakon, Sakha Republic, Russia<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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A street view of Oymyakon, Russia. This is the world\u2019s coldest populated place. Photo by Christoffer Hjalmarsson\/Alamy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The village of Oymyakon, two days drive from the city of Yakutsk, is regarded as the coldest permanently inhabited settlement on Earth. 500 brave souls call this frozen landscape home, putting up with average winter temperatures of -50\u00baC and only three hours of daylight during the winter months.<\/p>\n

In the town square, a monument commemorates the lowest temperature recorded there; a pretty chilly -71.2\u00baC in 1924.\u00a0Despite this, summer temperatures have been known to reach 34\u00baC.<\/p>\n

The people of Oymyakon survive on a diet of raw fish, and indeed ice fishing is one of the mainstays of the local economy.<\/p>\n

Driest place \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Arica, Atacama Desert,\u00a0<\/strong>Chile<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Aerial view of the city of Arica, Chile. Photo by Delphotos\/Alamy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

In some parts of the Atacama Desert rain hasn\u2019t fallen for 500 years, which by any measurement is quite a dry spell. The nearby city of Arica (Chile) is the driest city on Earth, and on average only sees 0.761mm of rainfall per year.<\/p>\n

These eye-watering figures haven\u2019t stopped the population growing to over 220,000, mainly due to its importance as a port city, being next to the Pan-American Highway and its thriving fruit industries located in the nearby valleys of Azapa\u00a0and\u00a0Lluta.<\/p>\n

Most polluted place \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>La Oroya, Peru<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The smokestack of a refinery stands next to the Mantaro River in La Oroya, Peru. Photo by Meridith Kohut\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Life really is pretty awful for the 25,000 or so inhabitants in this city in central Peru, with dangerously high quantities of arsenic, lead and sulphur dioxide in the air, and acid rain destroying vegetation in the surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

La Oroya is home to a smelting operation owned by Doe Run Peru, the city\u2019s main employer, and produces metals such as gold, silver, bismuth and cadmium amongst others.\u00a0It was recognised to be one of the most polluted places to live on Earth by the Blacksmith Institute in 2007, but efforts are being made to clean up the area and make things a lot better for the residents.<\/p>\n

Riskiest place \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Vanuatu, South Pacific Ocean<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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An active volcano erupts on Tanna Island, Vanuatu. Photo by Alamy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Fancy dodging deadly active volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis on a daily basis? Then why not head over to the Pacific Islands of Vanuatu, the riskiest place to live according to the UN\u2019s World Risk Index<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Satellite data shows that sea levels have risen about 6mm per year around Vanuatu<\/a> since 1993, and the average temperature is set to rise 1\u00baC by 2030 due to climate change.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s not bad enough, in April 2020, the island was hit by Tropical Cyclone Harold, its worst in 5 years, with wind speeds reaching up to 250 kph.<\/p>\n

More galleries on BBC<\/em>\u00a0Science Focus<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n