ʽAziziya
Al 'Aziziyah or El Azizia (Template:Lang-ar) is a city in and capital of Al Jfara District in northwestern Libya, 55 kilometres (34 mi) southwest of Tripoli. Prior to 2001 it was in Al 'Aziziyah District and its capital. Al 'Aziziyah is a major trade centre of the Sahel Jeffare plateau, being on a trade route from the coast to the Nafusa Mountains and the Fezzan region to the south. As of 2009, the city's population has been estimated at over 4,000.[1]
Geography and climate
On 13 September 1922, a high temperature of 57.8°C (136°F) was recorded in Al 'Aziziyah, which is the highest temperature ever measured on Earth.[2][3]
However, that reading is controversial[4][5]:
- The weather station was at first in Al Aziziyah town, but in 1919 it was moved to a hilltop fort, where the weather station was set up on black tarmac, which would have absorbed more sunlight and made the air there artificially hotter, explaining a period of very hot readings there from 1919 to 1928.
- Shortly before the 13 September 1922 record reading, the weather station's usual maximum thermometer had been damaged, and replaced by an uncalibrated ordinary cheap maximum-minimum thermometer such as often used in greenhouses.
This record does not mean that Al 'Aziziyah is the hottest place on Earth; that title belongs to Dallol, Ethiopia, where the mean temperature is 34.4°C (94°F).
| Climate data for Al 'Aziziyah, Libya (1920-1942) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 30.1 (86.2) |
33.5 (92.3) |
44.5 (112.1) |
48.3 (118.9) |
49.5 (121.1) |
51.9 (125.4) |
51.0 (123.8) |
56.0 (132.8) |
57.8 (136.0) |
— | — | — | 57.8 (136.0) |
| Source: http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/comment.html?entrynum=2</ref> | |||||||||||||
Notes
- ^ "العزيزية" ("Al 'Aziziyah") World Gazetteer, accessed 6 September 2009
- ^ "Global Measured Extremes of Temperature and Precipitation". National Climatic Data Center. United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Retrieved 3 December 2008.
- ^ "What is the highest temperature recorded on Earth, and what's a reasonable upper limit on the Earth's temperature?". Goddard Space Flight Center. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Retrieved 6 September 2009.
- ^ "Broken thermometer led to a record breaker". Daily Telegraph. 13 November 2010.
- ^ Burt, Christopher C. (2010-10-08). "QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE WORLD'S HOTTEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD: 136.4°F (58°C) AT AL AZIZIA, LIBYA SEPTEMBER 13, 1922". Weather Underground. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
32°31′55″N 13°01′03″E / 32.5319°N 13.0175°E
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