Kibbutz is earth’s 9th hottest place

While Americans have been suffering a heat wave in recent days, a review of the 10 hottest locations on the planet in Foreign Policy suggests they shouldn’t complain too much.

It reveals that a dry salt lake in eastern Iran recorded earth’s hottest temperature — in 2005; that Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi, an agricultural community near Beit She’an along the border with Jordan, recorded the ninth highest, in 1942; and that only one American locale, California’s Death Valley, makes the world Top 10.

The Lut Desert, where the highest recorded temperature was a blistering 70º C, 159º F, is too hot even for milk to spoil, Foreign Policy noted, “because bacteria can’t grow in temperatures that high.”

Tirat Tzvi, which lies 200 meters below sea level and in 1942 posted the highest temperature ever recorded in Asia (53º C; 128º F), is the largest date producer in Israel. With a population of less than 1,000, it also produces lulavs, the palm frond ritually waved during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

As for the US entry, which came in at No. 5, Foreign Policy noted that Death Valley’s hottest month is July, when the average temperature is 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and the heat index regularly reaches 125. “It’s the hottest, lowest place in the United States, making it void of life except for tourists and employees of the National Park Service.”

Other countries with locations making the list include Mali, Libya, Tunisia, Australia and China.