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Continent extreme temps

Each continent around the globe faces the challenge of extreme weather and here is a list of each continent’s most extreme highest and lowest recorded temperatures.

AFRICA


HIGHEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:

  • Al’Aziziyah, Libya 57.7 C (135.9 F) on the 13th September, 1922

LOWEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:

  • Ifrane, Morocco -23.9 C (-11.0 F) on the 11th February, 1935
ANTARCTICA

HIGHEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:

  • Hope Bay 14.6 C (58.3 F) on the 5th January, 1974

LOWEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:

  • Vostock II -89.2 C (-128.6 F) on the 21st July, 1983
ASIA
HIGHEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:
  • Tirat Tsvi, Israel 53.9 C (129.0 F) on the 21st June, 1942

LOWEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:

  • Verkhoyansk, Siberia -69.8 C (-93.6 F) on the 7th February, 1892
AUSTRALASIA
HIGHEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:
  • Oodnadatta, South Australia 50.7 C (123.3 F) on the 2nd January, 1960

LOWEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:

  • Charlotte Pass, New South Wales -23.0 C (-9.4 F) on the 29th June, 1994
EUROPE
HIGHEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:
  • Seville, Spain 50.0 C (122.0 F) on the 4th August, 1881

LOWEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:

  • Ust-Shchugor, Russia -55.0 C (-67.0 F) no date available
NORTH AMERICA
HIGHEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:
  • Death Valley, USA 56.7 C (134.0 F) on the 10th July, 1913

LOWEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:

  • Snag, Canada -63.0 C (-81.4 F) on the 3rd February, 1947
SOUTH AMERICA
HIGHEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:
  • Rivadavia, Argentina 48.9 C (120.0 F) on the 11th December, 1905

LOWEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE:

  • Sarmiento, Argentina -33.0 C (-27.4 F) on the 1st June, 1907

 

Comments

Richard Treadgold on 27/09/2009 10:35pm

A fascinating list of factoids, to be sure. Thanks for publishing it. From it arises a fact that becomes significant in the context of the climate change debacle oops, sorry: debate.

The hot records occurred mostly earlier than the cold records. That is, no warming trend is evident, much less an alarming one.

Antarctica’s record high was in the mid-1970s; all the other highs were before 1960 — well before the late 20th Century warming period; one hot record is 128 years old.

These observations deny the theory that we’re presently in a period of unprecedented, dangerous warming. It’s notable that two of the low temperature records were set after 1980, in the midst of the warming period. This is not a scientific conclusion, I hasten to say; it’s just something to remember when the people keen on warming tell us “the facts of climate change are becoming irrefutable”, “temperatures are the warmest in 2000 years” and similar silly things.

This seems increasingly to be a Clayton’s global warming — the global warming you have when you’re not having global warming. Like the warming that’s occurred for the last seven years, as the temperature declined.

What a hoot yawn.

Let’s go bake some bread — at least that’s sure to rise.

Cheers,
Richard Treadgold,
Convenor,
Climate Conversation Group.

John on 28/09/2009 4:15am

Yes, very interesting. Common sense is a virtue. Well written Richard.

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