The most reliable way to measure temperature is 4 feet off the ground, in the shade. Also, the thermometer was messed up when it read 136F at El Azizia, Libya so it was reading a few degrees too high. So, while the hottest temperature anywhere on our planet likely isn't the 134F measured at Furnace Creek, California, it is the highest RELIABLY measured temperature.
But if you're looking for the world's highest heat index (a measure that combines humidity and actual temperature), that was an unbearable 177F (over 80C!) somewhere on the Persian Gulf coast (the actual temperature was 110F with a dew point of 95F). That's so hot and humid that if the actual temperature was 10F higher with that same humidity, it would be capable of giving you very bad burns in seconds.
But the heat index increases exponentially with a worse combination of heat and humidity. I've examined a theoretical scenario where the actual temperature would be 160F and dew point 140F; that'd send the heat index to 531F. Fortunately, we don't have to worry about anything even close to that, but if the Earth tilted 90 degrees, the poles would get extremely hot during some months of the year...
...and the Arctic would likely get ultra-humid as well because it's a sea surrounded by land on almost all sides, and hotter air is much better at holding moisture.
Yup. Spent a couple years out there back in 2004-2005 and will be moving back out there within the next 1-2 months. But to clarify: It is really hot on the surface, but there is next to no humidity out there. I would argue that 110 degrees there is the equivalent to 85 in the southeast US with 90% humidity. It feels a lot milder than it actually is.
That being said, for the uninitiated it may not be fun. Usually the first sign that you're dehydrated is when you're laying on the ground trying to figure out how you got there. It's so dry out there that sweat literally evaporates as it forms.
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