The temperature of an area depends on the strength of the sun's rays, which is determined by the angle at which the rays hit the earth. The earth's temperature is hotter at the equator and colder at the poles because of the difference in the angle of the sun's rays. Since the earth is round, the sun's rays hit different areas at different angles; the higher the latitude the more slanted are the sun's rays. In tropical or lower latitude areas the sun stays more or less overhead throughout the year. Since direct rays provide more heat than rays at an angle, the tropics receive the most heat and have the warmest average temperatures.

Libya is the fourth largest state in Africa and is located close to the equator. Libya consists almost entirely of hot, arid desert. Due to its lack of natural barriers, Libya's climate is greatly influenced by the desert to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. In Tripoli, average highs are 30 °C in summer andaverage lows are 8 °C in winter [see editor's note below]. A scorching wind called the "ghibli"(a hot, very dry, sand laden wind) can raise the temperatures in a matter of hours to between 40 °C and 50 °C. The hottest recorded temperature ever on earth was in Libya on September 13, 1922, which was 58 °C.

Libya, Algeria, Death Valley and Iraq have some of the hottest temperatures on earth. During the summer, they have some of the hottest weather in the world. In contrast with these hot countries, the highest recorded temperature ever in the South Pole was on December 27, 1978, which was -14 °C. Despite the highest recorded weather extremes being in Libya, Algeria, Death Valley, and Iraq, the highest average annual mean world temperature was in Dallol, Ethiopia from October 1960 to December 1966, which was 35 °C.

Lana Koroleva -- 2000