1- Lakes that explode
No, it is not a science fiction story, the earth also hosts inhospitable places that could end our lives at any time.
Hidden in Cameroon, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there are a series of lakes originating from volcanic craters known as the lakes Nyos, Monoun and Kiyu respectively.
The magma that is under the water of these craters releases carbon dioxide in a continuous way, until the accumulated gas escapes suddenly producing the asphyxia of the fauna and the human beings who are nearby. Such an eruption can even cause tsunamis.
The power of these explosions is so great that some geologists have found near Kivu Lake evidence that shows massive biological extinctions.
2- Boiling rivers
In the depths of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, in Mayantuyacu, a river flows so hot that the water even boils. According to the legend, due to the heat released by the Great Yacumama Serpent, "the Mother of the Waters".
The hottest stretch of the river stretches more than 6 kilometers. There, the temperature of the water oscillates between 50ºC and 90ºC, although in some points it can even exceed 100ºC, enough temperature to cause third degree burns in a matter of seconds and even death.
3- Star dust
Each year, 40,000 tons of cosmic dust fall on our planet. It is not something that we can observe with the naked eye, but with time, all that dust formed by oxygen, carbon, iron, nickel and other elements find a way to get inside our bodies. It is romantic to think that we are actually stardust.
4- Frozen places
We talk about very, very cold places. Only a few hundred kilometers from the Arctic Circle is the city of Oimiakon, Russia, one of the coldest places on Earth. On January 26, 1926, a temperature of -71.2 ° C was recorded.
It is the lowest temperature ever recorded in an inhabited area, as well as the lowest in the Northern Hemisphere. Only lower temperatures have been recorded in Antarctica, (officially the lowest is -91 ° C, near the Antarctic mountain massif).
In that city it is so cold here that its inhabitants do not turn off their cars and must heat the earth with a bonfire for days before they can bury their dead.
5- Burning places
On the opposite side of the coin is the Valley of Death (United States), a valley that has earned its name after becoming the place with the highest temperatures recorded in history, nothing more and nothing less than 56.7 degrees centigrade, back in the year 1913.
6- The highest mountains are really big
The top of Everest is still the highest point in the world compared to sea level, but it is not the furthest from the center of the Earth, a record held by the summit of the Chimborazo volcano. How is this possible? The answer is in the form of the Earth.
Because the Earth is not totally round, the radius of the equator is larger than that of the poles. In other words, when you are at sea level at the equator, you are 21 kilometers farther from the center of the Earth than when you are at sea level at the poles.