Death Valley: What Life Is Like ‘The Worst Place on Earth’

“I think we all lose our temper with how hot it is,” says Brandi Stewart, who works at Death Valley National Park in California. “When you walk outside, it’s like being hit in the face with a bunch of hair dryers.”

On Sunday, something was reported in the park that was the highest temperature ever reliable on earth, a toasty 130F (54.4C) – a large, desert area filled with canyons and sand dunes that cross the border with neighbor Nevada. However, in the image of Brandi, the sign showing the temperature is overheating.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says it is still checking the record. But Brandi does not need experts to tell her exactly how hot it is.

She is one of only a few hundred people for whom the location is often referred to as “the hottest place in the world” at home.

Ms. Stewart has lived and worked in Death Valley for five years in the park’s communications department.

“It feels so hot that one thing that took me a while to get used to is that you can not really feel the sweat on your skin because it evaporates so quickly,” she told the BBC. “You may feel it on your clothes, but you don’t really feel sweat on your skin because it dries so fast.”

Mrs Stewart says she spends a lot of time in the summer, but some people choose to go to the mountains where temperatures are a bit cooler.

“Once upon a time, people lived there [the heat], I think we’re starting to normalize and then everything below 80F (26.6C) seems cold. “

As for sleep, people in the city have air conditioning, which keeps their homes cool as long as the power does not go out. This can be a problem as everyone is trying to keep their homes at a comfortable temperature when the mercury dies.

The majority of the people who work and live in the national park are in Furnace Creek, where the recent record temperature was recorded. The city is located in a long and narrow basin, about 280 meters below sea level. It is surrounded by high and steep mountains.

Jason Heser, originally from Minnesota, lives in Furnace Creek and works there on the golf course. It is the lowest golf course in the world at 85 meters below sea level.

“I have been to Iraq twice. If I can take Iraq, I can take Death Valley,” said the former member of the military service.

He starts at the golf course just before 5am and works until 1pm. “They once told us it’s starting to get harder, like now, now we start working at 4am. At 4am it’s still 100-105F (37.7-40.5C),” he said.

The water used to maintain the course comes from a natural spring surface. Mr. Heser is part of a team that helps keep the course in good condition.

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“We mow every day, trim, skirt bunkers.

“We pick up trees that have fallen because it’s so dry. They’re so dry with the heat that they get heavy and break off. A lot of our day is spent picking them up.”

Mr. Heser arrived in October 2019 and loves his job. He plans to stay there for a number of years. Winter causes the scorching summer temperature, he says.

In the meantime, he likes to keep golf on the course he works so hard to maintain. But that means a fairly early start from 7am to beat the heat – or at least the least of it – and get through 18 holes.

“I just love golf,” he said. “When I got here, the temperature was great – shorts, polo, a cold beer or a cold soda. Now, if you have a drink, it’s hot by the time you get to the green. You need to get it fast. drinking, that makes for interesting golf! ”

Sunday’s temperature is described as possibly the warmest ever ‘reliable’ recorded on earth. There are two higher temperatures in the record books – one in Furnace Creek in 1913 – 134F (56.6C) – and another in Tunisia in 1931 – 131F (55C). But these are being combated by climate experts.

“Modern scientists and meteorologists suggest that these two readings were inaccurate,” says Simon King of BBC Weather. “If you have a massive temperature like this [in Furnace Creek], the World Meteorological Organization is investigating further and looking at a lot of different information to verify the record as you would expect. “

Christopher Burt, a weather historian. has suggested that the 1913 temperature recorded in Death Valley was suspicious due to other readings in the area at that time. The reading in Furnace Creek was two or three degrees higher than other weather stations around, he says.

This is one reason why Sunday’s record, when checked, is described by some American experts as the highest ever “reliably recorded”. The WMO says it is seeking to verify it, but even if it does, it will classify the temperature as the third-highest temperature ever recorded, as it stands at the 1913 record in Furnace Creek and the 1931 record in Tunisia despite skepticism.

It is also claimed that in other places warmer temperatures have been seen than the Death Valley, but forecasters simply do not know about them due to the lack of any weather station nearby.

So for now, Furnace Creek is the hottest spot in the world.

“People ask me what it’s like,” Mr Heser said. “The best way I describe it is that you know when you cook something in your oven and you want to check, you open the door and you get that explosion of hot air from the oven …. that’s what it feels like as well as.”