As the southwestern United States endures an oppressive heat wave that has produced triple-digit temperatures in many areas this week, experts say records could soon fall.
Among them: the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a high temperature of 130 to 132 degrees in California’s Death Valley on Sunday.
If that occurs, it would “either tie or break [the] record for the hottest temperature reliably measured on Earth,” says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Swain uses the word “reliable” since Earth’s current record of 134 degrees, recorded at Furnace Creek in Death Valley in 1913, has been disputed for decades. Many researchers believe the measurement may have been the result of a sandstorm that caused superheated surface materials to hit the thermometer.
Death Valley hit a high of 129.4 degrees on July 10, 2021.
At 282 feet below sea level, Death Valley is the lowest point in North America and among the lowest places on Earth. While a new record there would generate headlines, other potential records would be more palpable.
Swain says California’s San Joaquin Valley, with includes the cities of Bakersfield, Stockton and Modesto, could reach or exceed all-time records in the 114-118 degree range on Sunday or Monday.
On Wednesday, Phoenix reached a high of 111 degrees, marking the 13th consecutive day above 110 degrees. The National Weather Service expects Phoenix to break the all-time record of 18 consecutive days.