Spare a thought for the critters of Death Valley
No sunshine records have been broken this week on this soggy, wind-lashed isle. More of the same in the days to come. There will be a little bit of sunshine in between the unsettled weather, but not enough to make my evergreen tomatoes begin to blush.
Craving the warmth in this summer of staycation? Then cast your minds over to Furnace Creek, Death Valley, America, where this week one of the highest temperatures ever recorded on Earth – a sizzling 54.4C (130F) – was notched up. The hottest temperature ever recorded was 56.7C (134F), also in Furnace Creek, in 1913 (though the reliability of that reading remains contested).
I’ve been looking into what life is like in the oven of the world. Not for the people so much – this being the US, everyone cranks the air conditioning up to polar wind settings – but the flora and fauna that manage to endure such a harsh environment.
Critters like the kangaroo rat, which has evolved to not require any water and instead ekes out all the hydration it needs through the seeds and desert grasses it forages.
Or the desert pupfish, which has ended up stranded in the area’s meagre water courses after the ancient rivers they once formed part of have dried up over millennia. The fish is among the most heat tolerant on Earth and has evolved to survive in water temperatures up to 40C (104F).
And then there are dozens upon dozens of lizards and snakes. The rosy boa is my favourite: sounds like a good name for a pub.
There is also, bizarrely, a golf course in Furnace Creek at 214ft below sea level which – according to photographs – contains a lush green fairway that is watered by an underground spring and presumably boasts plenty of bunkers, too.
The idea of thrashing around in the rattlesnake rough for my melting ball sounds to me like a holiday from hell. Suddenly, a wet weekend in Bridlington doesn’t seem so bad after all.