Located at the border of California and Nevada east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Death Valley National Park has always been a source of fascination over the extreme temperatures it is known to reach in the summer months.
While different ways of measuring can lead to different results, Death Valley headquarters of Furnace Creek is frequently designated as the hottest place on earth with an average daily temperature high of 113°F (45°C). The highest heat ever recorded — 134°F (56.7°C) — took place on July 10, 1913.
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But with climate change leading to higher temperatures in many parts of the world, Death Valley has been seeing even bigger extremes. Starting from July 4, daily high temperatures at the park have been at least 125°F (51.7°C) for each day that followed — a situation that is exacerbated by an energy outage that came as a result of a thunderstorm hitting a power station on July 13.
'The recent heat wave included three daily heat records'
"Average high temperatures in July are 117°F (47°F)," the National Park Service (NPS) writes of the recent temperature trends. "The recent heat wave included three daily heat records and peaked at 129.3°F (53.9°C) on July 7, was the park’s second-longest streak of high temperatures at or above 125 degrees, just behind the ten-day streak measured in 1913."
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As it provided the air conditioning, the broken power station resulted in the closure of the park's Visitor Center as well as certain NPS offices and housing blocks. The nearby hotels, restaurants and gas stations commonly used by tourists relied on a different power station and were therefore not affected.
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'Affected employees, families and pets have been evacuated'
"Southern California Edison [power station] supplied a large generator, and Furnace Creek Visitor Center reopened on Monday morning," the NPS wrote further. "NPS housing and offices are still without power. The affected employees, families, and pets have been evacuated to nearby hotels."
While the power outage has exacerbated the situation for those who work in the park, the issue of rising temperatures has become an increasingly pressing problem in general over the last decade.
Last month, two Death Valley National Park visitors narrowly escaped death after running out of water six miles into a hike while a motorcyclist died of "severe heat illness” after getting lost in the park earlier in July.
Both Death Valley and Grand Canyon, which saw its own share of 130-plus days this year, are both currently under an "extreme heat" advisory that the NPS uses to inform visitors to plan carefully before deciding to go on long hikes and visits to remote areas. In Death Valley, the power outage means that evacuated rescue staff that would normally be on hand to assist visitors who underestimated the heat will take much more time to arrive.
"Hiking in extreme heat can lead to serious health risks including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, hyponatremia, and death," the NPS writes in one of several recent warnings. "Be aware that efforts to assist hikers may be delayed during the summer months due to limited staff, the number of rescue calls, employee safety requirements, and limited helicopter flying capability during periods of extreme heat or inclement weather."
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