World High Temperature Has Been Lowered
By Quincy Vagell on September 14, 2012, 11:40am
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So much for global warming: The world record high temperature has been lowered.
The record high surface temperature on Earth had been 136.4ºF at El Azizia, Libya, as recorded on September 13th, 1922.
The new record high is now considered to be the 134.0ºF reading at Greenland Ranch (Death Valley), California, USA, on July 10th, 1913.
Why the change?
In a nutshell, the World Meteorological Association's (WMO) group of climatology experts felt that many factors invalidated the "old" high temperature. This came following the 2011 Libyan Revolution, as investigations were more easily carried out.
1. Problems with the thermometer/instrumentation.
The WMO stated that the temperature of 136ºF may have been off by as much as 14ºF! That's a very large error!
2. New and inexperienced observer.
The report by the WMO also said that the observer was new and inexperienced, meaning they likely did not know the high temperature was incorrect.
3. Location of the observation.
Since the temperature was recorded over a hot, asphalt-like surface, that also caused a skewed reading. Temperatures over the natural desert soil were likely significantly cooler than the 136ºF reading.
4. Poor matching to nearby stations.
With such a high temperature reading, especially a possible record high, it is very important to quality check by looking at nearby stations. Without matching observations, or at least nearby readings to validate the high temperature, the reading could not be validated.
5. Poor matching to temperatures at the site.
Another thing to look for with records like this is continuity. The WMO believes that earlier and later temperature readings at the location did not match up with or confirm the record high temperature.
With all of the above in consideration, the record high had to be changed.
Interestingly enough, some other records were also changed.
The record high wind is no longer 231 MPH at Mount Washington, NH!
For more information, visit http://wmo.asu.edu/
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