If you are looking for a book to use for comparing and contrasting, this might be the one for you. In this book extreme  temperatures from around the world are pictured and talked about.The title says it all! The book, also, goes into vocabulary dealing with temperature, for example: heat index, windchill, relative humidity, heatstroke, and hypothermia.

The hottest air temperature was measured in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on July 8, 2003. “That day, air temperature soared to 108 F (42 C) and relative humidity was greater than normal. These conditions made it feel like 176 F (80 C). ..that is only 36 F (2 C) cooler than the point at which water boils.” ( p. 14)             The coldest air temperature was “On August 10, 2010, the East Antarctic Plateau…wind chill made it feel like -136 F (-93 C).” (p.21) Being prepared to withstand such extreme temperatures is key to survival.

Water temperatures at hydrothermal vents deep  in the Atlantic Ocean can reach 867 F (464 C). The book then talks about going into glacier ice caves at Mount Hood, Oregon, but never mentions a temperature. It does predict that many of these caves will not last another ten years due to global climate change.

The last page contains a recap of the book’s ” True Statistics”.

Approximately one third of each page consists of a photo or diagram, while the other two-thirds of the page is text.

The front cover shows a photo of an erupting volcano with the caption ” Lava temperatures can reach up to about 2,200 F  (1,200 C).” though there are no volcanoes inside the book.