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Heat record defaults to Death Valley

WASHINGTON — For 90 years, it was thought El Azizia, Libya, had felt the world’s hottest temperature, 136 degrees on Sept. 13, 1922. But a team of atmospheric scientists has concluded the record is bogus.

This means Death Valley (Greenland Ranch, Calif.), which hit 134 degrees on July 10, 1913, now has the record.

Thirteen scientists from 9 countries conducted a review of the Libyan record and uncovered 5 problems: use of antiquated instrumentation; a likely inexperienced observer; an observation site that was not representative of the desert surroundings; poor matching of the temperature to nearby locations; and poor matching to temperatures recorded in that location after the record was established.

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‘‘When we compared observations to surrounding areas and to other measurements made before and after the 1922 reading, they simply didn’t match up,’’ said Arizona State University meteorologist Randy Cerveny, who led the study on behalf of the World Meteorological Organization.

Washington Post