The weather actually plays more of a part in our lives that we give it credit for.
The reason might be that we have invented enough things that can keep us warm in winters
and cool in summers.
And while that may hold true for most places, there are some places on Earth where the environment
is so extreme that it may not be a good idea to visit without proper precautions.
Let us take a look at some of these places.
17.
Catatumbo Lightning, Venezuela.
If every night, for almost 140 days of the year, you had to go to sleep thinking that
there was a war in the heavens, you would definitely not be a happy sleeper.
But while the war part is probably not true, what is unique about Zulia in Venezuela is
that there is almost a constant thunderstorm with up to 20,000 lightning flashes during
the night!
No one knows the reason for this singular phenomenon but locals attribute it to various
legends.
Also, this is responsible for producing 10% of the atmospheric ozone in the world all
by itself!
16.
Dallol, Ethiopia.
Imagine a place that looks straight out of the sets of some weird fantasy movie.
And yet, it is inhabited and is in fact the hottest inhabited place on Earth.
The temperatures here soar to 46 degree celcius on a daily basis and coupled with that, the
hot springs here contain a lot of acid which has given a weird colour tone to the area.
And as if that was not enough, there are natural exhausts here where earthly gases come out
and a volcanic crater is also present near it which ensures heat waves emanate from all
around in Dallol!
15.
Death Valley, USA.
While the name does not bode well for anyone who wants to visit, the place is actually
even more forbidding.
The Death valley in California, USA is actually one of the driest places on Earth which sees
less than 2 inches of rainfall every year.
Not to mention that it is also one of the hottest places on Earth.
In fact, the hottest recorded temperature ever was here in 1913.
A scorching 56.6 degree celcius.
No wonder it got that name, right?
14.
Bioko Island, Africa.
The Bioko islands which are located on the southern end of Equatorial Guinea are the
wettest place in Africa.
It is usually a good idea to carry an umbrella all through the year because it kind of experiences
a downpour every day!
It experiences over 411 inches of rainfall every year and July alone sees over 87 inches
of rainfall every year!
Definitely not a place to go if you don’t like rainfall!
13.
Mawsynram, India.
Imagine a place where the people have to line the roofs of their house with grass just so
that they are able to sleep.
Why so?
Because the rainfall here is so regular and so strong that it makes an awful din throughout
the year which can get kind of irritating.
Mawsynram in India is actually the wettest place on Earth with around 467 inches of rainfall
every year.
That is almost 40 feet.
Which is kind of like 7 normal sized humans standing on top of each other!
12.
Atacama Desert, Chile.
If you want to experience what Mars would look like and don’t want to wait for the
technology to catch up, visit the Atacama desert in Chile.
It is so similar to our neighboring planet that scientists actually test vessels bound
for Mars here!
The Atacama desert is so dry that many places here have not witnessed even a drop of rain
in years.
So if you ever happen to go there, do not forget to carry a bottle of water!
11.
McMurdo Dry Valley.
It may actually come as a surprise to many that the driest place on Earth is actually
located in Antarctica.
After all, the place is snow bound, isn’t it?
But the McMurdo dry valley is located between the many mountain ranges of the continent.
And as such, that has led to area being completely dry.
So much so that not a drop of rain has fallen here in over 14 million years!
That gives a new perspective to dry does it not?
10.
Mariana Trench . When we think of oceans, we think of the vastness
and of the depths.
But in case you want to put the depths of the ocean in perspective, just imagine putting
238 statues of liberty end to end.
Even then, you will not be able to break the surface of the water at the Challenger deep
in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.
It is the deepest place on Earth and the ocean floor is actually 10,971 metres below the
surface!
Imagine drowning here and never reaching the bottom!
Scary!
9.
Mount McKinley.
Cold is not something all of us are comfortable with.
All of us have that one friend who just has to increase the temperature of the AC in even
the hottest of temperatures.
And if you ever want to punish them for doing that, all you have to do is send them to Mount
McKinley in Alaska, which is also known as Denali.
The temperatures during the winters are as low as -40 degree celcius and often fall down
to -73.8 degrees as well.
In fact, it is believed to be the second coldest place on Earth, behind only Antarctica.
8.
Lut Desert, Iran.
When we think of hell, we think of it a hot place.
Unbearably hot.
And if you ever want to witness hell on earth, all you have to do is walk into the Lut desert
in Iran, which is the hottest place on Earth!
In 2005, scientists were amazed when temperatures reach 71 degree celcius.
It is impossible for us to survive in that sort of weather and in fact, there aren’t
even bacteria that can survive in the Lut desert!
7.
Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia.
Salt is something that none of us can live without.
But Salar De Uyuni takes it to the extreme as it is the largest salt flat in the world.
Located in Southwest Bolivia, there is 10 billion tons of salt across a 10,582 km area
here.
And not just that, there are vast deposits of magnesium, sodium and potassium here.
Not to mention lithium, as over 70% of the lithium reserves in the world are present
here.
And fun fact, when this area is covered with water, Salar De Uyuni becomes the largest
natural mirror in the world!
6.
Banzai Pipeline.
Waves are a wonder to behold no matter where you are in the world.
But if you ever visit the Banzai Pipeline in the north shore of Oahu, you will actually
be in awe of the waves.
They are the deadliest and heaviest waves in the world and that actually tempts many
to try and surf it.
The waves break just off the beach over a jagged coral reef and sadly, they claim a
lot of lives every year.
Which is why you will find many who will try to warn you away from trying to tame them,
and it is actually a better idea to listen to them.
5.
Angel Falls, Venezuela.
Waterfalls are simply breath taking works of nature.
There is something wonderful about them and if you ever want to witness a waterfall in
all its grandeur then you should head to the Angel Falls in Venezuela.
It is the largest uninterrupted waterfall in the world with water falling from a height
of 979 meters.
It is roughly 15 times higher than Niagara falls and the spray of the water can be felt
miles away from the waterfall!
And the most amazing thing here is that in the summers, the water actually evaporates
before reaching the ground!
4.
Mount Thor, Canada.
Climbing a Mountain is always a risky business because you can fall down.
But while most mountains do not allow you to fall straight to the ground, Mount Thor
will actually do that.
It is the highest vertical drop in the world.
Located on the Baffin Island in Canada, there is a point on Mount Thor which is at 1250
meters with an inward angle of 105 degree.
Which means that if you fall from there, you will end up hitting the ground.
After a fall of over a kilometre of course, so maybe you will die before you hit rock
bottom as they say!
3.
Dead Sea.
Located on the borders of Israel and Jordan, the Dead sea is actually a unique place as
the water density is so high that you can actually sit on the water!
It is also the lowest point on the Earth’s surface as the bottom of the sea is actually
423 metres below the sea level!
The water has 34.2% salinity, making it the saltiest water body on Earth.
In fact, so great is the salinity here that no animals live near this harsh environment!
2.
Vostok Station, Antarctica.
Cold temperatures are really not much fun to be around making one wonder why some people
would want to actually go to the Soviet Vostok station.
They have recorded the lowest naturally occurring temperature at ground level of -89.2 degree
celcius!
That is cold to even think about, much less actually stay there!
The Vostok station is one of the most isolated research centres on Earth and we cant help
but think if any research is worth living in that cold which is actually much beyond
just freezing!
1.
Cape Denison, Antarctica.
Yep, that’s right.
Antarctica finds another place on this list and that should pretty much tell you why it
is one of the most unforgiving places on Earth.
Cape Denison in Antarctica is known to be the windiest place on Earth.
In fact, so great are the winds here that they had to come up with a new term, katabatic
winds, to describe it!
There are blizzards here almost throughout the year and some of them are strong enough
to make walking against the wind almost impossible!
Have you ever experienced any of these awe inspiring places on Earth?
Do let us know how it feels to actually witness nature’s raw power by leaving a comment
in the comments section below.
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