Is It Impossible For The World To Get Hotter Than 135 Degrees?
Some scientists think that nowhere in the world can the temperature ever rise above 135 degrees F. According to the World Meteorological Organization, that high was set in Death Valley in 1913. With all the global warming and extraordinary heat waves over the last decade, peak temperatures are usually around 120 degrees. In the meantime, cities and countries have set heat records thousands of times over that stretch.
Europe has set record temperatures this summer. The highest in India often reaches 120 degrees for several days in a row. Las Vegas and Phoenix temperatures move above 110 degrees in most summers.
Death Valley Record
So, how higher can the highest be? “You can’t have 500 degrees,” Michael Wehner, a senior staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, told Bloomberg.
One reason the Death Valley may not be broken is a perfect storm of heat, drought, and sea level. It may not be repeated ever again.
In many cases, reaching 135 degrees does not matter when it comes to where humans can live and the awful byproducts of heat. One recent study puts global heat-related deaths at 500,000. That figure is expected to rise over the next few decades. The number of people who will get sick from the heat is many multiples of that.
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