Death Valley has a habit of living up to its name.
The hottest place on earth is Death Valley in California’s Mojave Desert. Death Valley’s Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest confirmed air temperature in the world, recorded as 134 °F (56.7 °C) on July 10, 1913.
Death Valley’s status as the hottest place on Earth is a result of geography, atmospheric pressure, and altitude.
The valley is flat, below sea level and enclosed by mountains. The sun’s heat reaches the ground, and is absorbed by the barren soil and rock of its surface. Heat radiates from the surface of the valley, and the surrounding air increases in temperature. The air consequently rises and cools as it gains altitude.
But the cooler air cannot escape the valley due to the surrounding mountains and the higher atmospheric pressure of the colder air above. The recently cooled air descends back down into the valley where it is reheated by the sun. Reheated, the air rises once again but is kept hemmed within the valley by as the process repeats.
The result is a high surface temperature and hot winds that cause conditions akin to a drought.
Short answer: Death Valley is the hottest place in the world. The Native American Timbisha tribe have lived there for at least 1000 years, but tourists and adventurers regularly die from dehydration and misadventure. You might want to avoid going there in summer with a bag of peyote.
