Going to Extremes

Planet Earth is an extreme place, as its amazing variety of climates show. The Atacama Desert in Chile got its name from the Atacama Indians, who still live there. It seldom rains there, usually only once in a hundred years, so it is the driest place on Earth! In 1983 archaeologists found hundreds of Indian mummies buried there. The bodies were in excellent condition because of the dry climate, even though they were 7,000 years old. This makes them older than the Egyptian mummies.

Visiting the Antarctic is like walking into a huge freezer! Average temperatures are around -50°C, but they are much lower in winter. It’s freezing cold there. Scientists are very interested in volcanoes there. Mount Erebus stands in the middle of snow and ice. Heat from the volcano melts some of the snow on its sides and sends jets of steam into the air. These jets freeze instantly into ‘chimneys’ of ice. Some stand over 18 metres tall. It’s an amazing sight!

When we think of a hot place we usually think of Africa, but the second hottest place on Earth is in Death Valley in California. Its average temperature in July and August is well over 45°C. The strangest thing about Death Valley is its mysterious moving stones. They seem to move all by themselves and leave tracks behind them. Some scientists say the wind moves them and others say it is magnetic force. Whatever the reason, Death Valley is one of the most mysterious places in the world!