The heat at the hottest place on earth, Death Valley National Park in California, USA, has claimed its second summer fatality, according to a press release from the park. A 57-year-old man stumbled back from a hiking trail, spoke incoherently but refused help, got into his car and drove down a slope.
The man was helped out of the car and into the shade but died shortly after, just before the ambulance arrived. The cause of death has been confirmed as heatstroke. On the day it happened, August 1, the temperature in the park exceeded 48 degrees.
In July, on a day when the thermometer showed 53.3 degrees, a motorcyclist died of heatstroke and five others required medical attention. A tourist from Europe suffered third-degree burns after briefly walking barefoot.
During the summer months, daytime temperatures in the air average 45 degrees. The surface temperature of materials and objects can become much hotter than that. In July 1972, the ground temperature reached 93.9 degrees in the area.
Death Valley is the location where the highest temperature on earth, in modern times, has been recorded. In July 1913, a temperature of 56.7 degrees was recorded at Furnace Creek in Death Valley.
