Who writes the most about experiencing the earth's climate?

Author: Li Man

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Nick Middleton is a professor of geography at Oxford University in England and the author of travel books. He has rich geographical knowledge and travel experience. Once when he was writing, it suddenly occurred to him: We always complain that the weather is too mild, so what is it like to live in extreme climate for a long time? So he decided to experience it himself.

Experience the coldest-a thick down jacket is as hard to keep out the cold as paper.

The original intention of Siberia is "sleeping land", which is a vast land of130,000 square kilometers, accounting for almost 80% of Russia's land area. In the center of this cold wasteland, there is a small town called Miakan Eul, which is considered to be the coldest human settlement on earth. The lowest temperature here once reached -7 1℃. It is said that many people were forced to amputate their limbs because of severe frostbite, which led to a shortage of narcotic drugs in local hospitals. Nick decided that this is the ideal place to experience the ultra-cold life and planned to go there happily in the coldest time.

The town of Miakan in Yule is located in a canyon between two mountains. This beautiful valley fully shows the extreme cold controlled by high pressure in Siberia. The cold wind can't blow off the snowflakes on the tree. The sky is high, the blue is crystal clear, and the thin white fog is around. The local residents' wooden houses were built on this frozen soil, and the hot air in the house gradually softened the frozen soil, so the houses on the whole street looked stagger.

Nick didn't catch up with the minimum temperature when he came here, but he has found that the equipment he carried can't be used here: his glasses are frozen, his pen is condensed, the micro weather station can't work at all, and his thick down jacket is like paper to keep out the cold. He had to rearm himself under the guidance of local residents and put on a mink suit, sheepskin coat, raccoon hat and reindeer boots.

He was surprised to find that the local people completely adapted to this harsh environment, and the cold didn't seem to seriously affect people's lives. At school, children play outdoors all winter, and the school will not close unless the temperature is below minus 60℃. The most incredible thing is that there is a winter swimming club in the coldest place in the world. Breaking the ice half a meter thick and jumping into the biting ice water, the taste is really unspeakable. I guess my mind must have been blank at that time.

In order to survive in this extremely cold environment, you must eat a lot of fat and protein to keep your body running. The most common foods eaten by local people are roasted horse meat and frozen raw horse liver. Three meals a day and dinner are all meat. In a few days, you will feel as if there is a fierce horse galloping in your body. There is a special natural phenomenon in this area. The higher the altitude, the higher the temperature, which seems to be inconsistent with a basic principle of atmospheric physics. Even experienced meteorologists find it difficult to give an accurate explanation.

In this extremely cold place, hunting activities become very simple, just set traps in places where mammals haunt, without crouching down to observe. The temperature here is much lower than the freezing room temperature of domestic refrigerator. Trapped animals will not thaw for several months, and the natural preservation effect is very ideal. Besides, many unusual things will happen in the cold life: fishing under the ice, deer pulling sleds, thawing horses … If you want to experience it, you must be prepared. Nick's suggestion is that you can't wear anything you usually wear for the winter there.

Experience the hottest-it feels like a turkey in the oven.

With the gradual warming of the global climate, most residents on the earth have experienced the painful experience of being tortured by high temperature, but few people are willing and have the opportunity to experience the real extreme high temperature.

Nick is going to a small town called Dalraul, which is located in the northeast of Ethiopia, in the center of the Danakil stove. The temperature here is very high all year round, especially in the long summer, which exceeds 40℃ every day. It's a miracle to survive here. It is said that only a few Afar people have the courage to face this unbearable heat environment.

Curiosity and courage are not enough to challenge the limit. We must be fully prepared in physical, psychological and equipment aspects. In order to survive in a really hot environment, Nick must be trained in physical fitness and survival skills in a similar environment.

Physical training is divided into three steps: first, bury the naked body in hot yellow sand, and after 15 minutes, no part of the body, including fingers, can move under the action of high temperature; Step 2: Squat in a closed tent made of thick blankets 1.5 hours. When you are about to faint, give a special massage immediately. The function of this massage is to help the body expel toxins and dredge the communication channels between the body and the outside world. Massage causes unforgettable pain, and it feels like an extremely painful baptism. The focus of desert survival training is to identify the direction and find water sources. The dry and hot desert scenery is very monotonous, and there are almost no signs to help you determine your orientation. When the original water source has dried up and death is approaching, you must learn to eat snails raw, although this feeling is very uncomfortable.

In order to adapt to the hot environment, Nick and the guide had to have a rest in Ledard, Iraq. This is a small town in the south of Danakil depression, which is located by the fire. Although there is still a distance from the hottest Dalraul, it is already extremely hot. Although the Sahara desert can't see the blue sky, the sultry dust all day makes it difficult to breathe.

Most of the residents here are Afar people, and their lives are very hard. Their staple food is goat's milk and bread exchanged for grain, and they can hardly eat vegetables and meat. But the real problem is water shortage. Afar people are nomadic people. As the pasture near the water source is eaten up by goats, herders can only gradually stay away from the water source. Women have a hard day: they have to get up early, make breakfast, tidy up the barn, and then drive the sheep to the water source 20 kilometers away in the hot sun, and they have to knit blankets all the way back and forth.

In order to experience this kind of life, Nick decided to follow them. The morning 10 has just arrived, the journey is less than half, the temperature has reached 43℃, and Nick feels like a turkey in the oven. This is not the hottest time, nor has it reached the hottest place. Nick forced himself not to associate with him. At this time, he had no way out, so he had to bite the bullet and walk to the center of the stove. ...

The experience is the driest-many locals have never seen rain in their lives.

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile lies between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. This desert, which has been formed for millions of years, is long and narrow, dry all the year round, with little rain and dust all year round, and belongs to that extremely dry environment. At the northern end of the desert, there is a place called Aarika, which is said to be the driest town in the world and has been inhabited for a long time. There is not only a special natural environment here, but also many unique natural and human landscapes brought by the environment.

Never think that the climate by the sea must be wet and rainy. There is almost no record of rainfall at the junction of the Pacific Ocean and Atacama Desert. However, there are surprisingly many foggy days here, with more than 200 days covered by fog every year. Nick found that mosquito nets are an indispensable production and daily necessities for local residents. Not only do they fish with nets, but more importantly, they get water with nets. The first people who settled here found that two kinds of plants grow well in the desert without rain, because their branches and leaves can absorb the water they need from the fog. This natural phenomenon has inspired fishermen who are facing survival crisis due to lack of fresh water. They designed and gradually improved a fog trap specially used to collect fog water. Every small fishing village will install more than 100 such nets at sea level. In foggy days, each net can collect 170 liters of water. The method is simple and easy to operate, and is beneficial to environmental protection.

From the seaside to Aarika, passing through an Indian tribe at the foot of the Andes, an ancient religious ceremony to pray for precipitation is being held here. More than 3000 meters above sea level, harsh environment, drought and lack of oxygen. It is said that NASA chose this place as the test base for space probes, because they think it is the closest place on the earth to the surface environment of Mars. For thousands of years, due to drought and lack of rain, the appearance and religious customs here have never changed. The central activity of the sacrificial ceremony revolves around an llama to be slaughtered: a tall and strong llama is tied up, and some dyed wool is tied on the llama's back and ears; People automatically flash out a passage to let the camel's soul ascend to heaven smoothly; Its blood was spilled everywhere, and its beating heart was wrapped in sacred coca leaves and burned in the fire until the ceremony was over.

Aarika is the driest town in the world. According to the information provided by the World Meteorological Organization, there has never been a drop of rain here from 1909 to 19 19. In this place where the average annual rainfall is only 0.8 mm, many people have never seen rain in their lives. Because of the dry climate and salty sand, people began to make mummies as early as the 5th century BC, and mummies preserved for more than 2,000 years abound. In people's impression, where there is little rain, it must be withered everywhere, flying sand and stones. On the other hand, Aarika is the driest town in the world, but it has spring-like seasons and pleasant scenery. There are no dusty streets and endless desolation. Incredibly, cleanliness and green make Aarika a famous tourist destination.

Experience the wettest-the local rainfall record has been refreshed many times.

The last goal of Nick's expedition plan is to be located in the interior of Moss in northeast India, because it is the wettest place in the world.

India's Moss inland is a world-famous rain capital, and the rainfall here is staggering. Since the British set up a weather station here in 1852, the local rainfall records have been refreshed many times. According to the meteorological data, the annual rainfall of186/kloc-0 has set an astonishing record of 26 meters, and in June 1995 alone, the rainfall was as high as 1.5 meters. Living in such a wet and rainy place for a long time, its physical and mental feelings are unimaginable to onlookers.

The Sika people here may be descendants of Cambodian and Thai immigrants. Although they have lived here for 100 years, they still can't adapt to this rainy climate. When the rainy season comes, businesses in all walks of life are depressed or even forced to close down, and residents' income is reduced and their lives are tight. Few people go to church, and the deserted streets are gloomy and depressing, which makes people shudder. The pouring rain mixed with large hailstones keeps up day and night, and the "sweet" rain often wakes people up from sleepless nights. Every household is troubled by the humidity brought by rainy weather. People are depressed, sensitive, prone to illness, unable to wear shoes and cloth shoes, clothes, money, firewood and meals. Everything seems to be wet. Almost all people are trapped at home, doing nothing and bored. People don't know how to deal with this bad weather and how to spend this rainy season, which is half in the clouds and half in the water.

Surprisingly, after the rainy season, when the rainfall was quite concentrated, the eight-month dry season completely changed the face of the rainy city. Due to the lack of water conservancy facilities, imperfect water storage system and severe water shortage in dry season, 22.7 liters of drinking water can only be bought for 10 rupees. At this time, Mosinland has become a dry city, and people are beginning to worry about drought again.

Right?