What are the most extreme temperature recorded?

Libya and the Antarctic have recorded the most extreme temperatures. The hottest shade temperautre was in Libya in 1922, when the temperature in the Sahara desert reached 58°C. Temperatures nearly as high as this were recorded in Death Valley in the USA in 1913. The coldest ever recorded temperature was in Antarctica in 1983, when Russian scientists measured a temperature low of - 89.2°C. The longest heatwave recorded was in Marble Bar, Australia when the temperature stayed above 38°C. It lasted for 162 days from 23 October 1923 to 7 April 1924.

Fact file

Over millions of years the human body has altered to suit the climate of the regions we inhabit. In general the hotter the region, the darker the skin of its inhabitants.