40 degree heat

Where is the hottest place on earth? The Lut Desert in Iran. Researchers at the University of Montana confirmed this based on infrared wavelengths captured by a satellite over the past seven years. The desert recorded an average temperature of 70.7 degrees Celsius in 2005. This is too hot for bacteria to survive. Scientists left a bottle of milk there and it never spoiled. The desert was created after a salty lake dried up, and is located in a basin surrounded by high mountains.

The latest edition of Foreign Policy magazine announced the 10 hottest places on earth: the Lut Desert, Australia’s Queensland, China’s Turpan Depression, Libya’s El Azizia (the Sahara Desert) and Ghadames, Death Valley of the U.S., Tunisia’s Kebili, Mali’s Timbuktu, Israel’s Tirat Tsvi, and Sudan’s Wadi Halfa. Actor Tom Cruise rock-climbed with his bare hands in “Mission: Impossible 2” in Death Valley, where the mercury often exceeds 50 degrees.

There is a gap between the temperature and what people feel. A desert with a scorching sun and no wind is quite livable because it is not so humid. Foreign Policy magazine said certain people live and conduct economic activities in the hottest places except for the Lut Desert. Like Eskimos in the freezing cold, those in deserts live without huge inconvenience. This reflects how adaptable humans are to climate. In Southeast Asia, Korean tourists sweat heavily while locals seem not bothered.

In Korea, Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, recorded 40.6 degrees Tuesday and other regions saw sweltering heat waves. Forty degrees is the temperature of a wet sauna room. The human body controls its temperature with sweat when the external temperature exceeds 29 degrees. When the temperature goes above 34 degrees, however, sweat is not enough to control body heat. Direct exposure to sunlight in hot weather can cause heat stroke. The latest heat wave in Korea has killed seven people. If those who died of disease and aging in the wake of the heat are added, the number will increase. This could be a repeat of the nightmarish summer of 1994 when 3,000 people in Korea died of extreme heat. Children, senior citizens and patients need to protect themselves from heat.

Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee (shchung@donga.com)