Most Dangerous Places On Earth
BE AMAZED・2 minutes read
Death Road in Bolivia, Naica Crystal Cave in Mexico, Snake Island in Brazil, Death Valley in California, Oymyakon in Russia, the Mariana Trench, the Skeleton Coast in Namibia, Lake Karachay, the Great Blue Hole in Belize, the Mir mine in Russia, Boiling Lake in Dominica, Lake Natron in Tanzania, Devil's Pool at Victoria Falls, and Danakil Depression in Ethiopia are some of the most perilous and extreme locations on Earth, each posing unique dangers and risks to visitors and inhabitants alike.
Insights
- Snake Island off the coast of Brazil harbors 4,000 Golden Lancehead pit vipers whose venom can cause death in under an hour, making it a perilous location for visitors.
- Lake Karachay in Russia, once the most polluted place on Earth due to radioactive waste dumping, emitted a deadly dose of 5.6 sieverts an hour in 1990, leading to a 41% increase in cancer rates in the Chelyabinsk region.
Get key ideas from YouTube videos. It’s free
Recent questions
What is the hottest air temperature recorded on Earth?
134 degrees Fahrenheit
Related videos
Summary
00:00
Extreme Locations: Deadly and Dangerous Sites
- Yungas Road in Bolivia, known as Death Road, is a treacherous track with sheer cliffs, reaching 15,260 feet above sea level, only 10 feet wide in places, and lacking guardrails, leading to numerous fatal accidents.
- Naica Crystal Cave in Mexico houses massive selenite crystals, but the extreme heat and humidity, with temperatures reaching 113 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity at 99%, make it dangerous, causing heatstroke and organ failure in minutes.
- Snake Island off the coast of Brazil is infested with 4,000 Golden Lancehead pit vipers, whose venom can cause death in under an hour, making it a perilous location for visitors.
- Death Valley in California holds the record for the hottest air temperature on Earth at 134 degrees Fahrenheit, with dangerous animals like rattlesnakes and scorpions, posing risks of heatstroke and dehydration to visitors.
- Oymyakon in Eastern Russia is the coldest inhabited place on Earth, with temperatures dropping to -90 degrees Fahrenheit, necessitating expensive fur coats for survival due to the extreme cold.
- The Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth, descends seven miles into the Earth's crust, with pitch-black water, bone-crushing pressure of eight tons per square inch, and unknown creatures lurking in the darkness.
- The Skeleton Coast in Namibia, part of the Namib Desert, is a hostile landscape with scarce drinkable water, home to predators like desert lions and hyenas, and littered with the remains of around 1,000 shipwrecks.
- Lake Karachay in Russia, once used as a dumping ground for radioactive waste, is considered the most polluted place on Earth, with exposure to its waters for an hour being lethal due to extreme contamination.
- The Great Blue Hole in Belize, a giant marine sinkhole, is a popular tourist spot but poses risks of strong currents and shark encounters, making it dangerous for inexperienced divers.
- The Mir mine in Russia, an open-pit diamond mine over 1,700 feet deep, faced a catastrophic flood in 2017, filling it with 10 million cubic feet of water, posing a nightmare scenario for anyone caught in such a deluge.
15:56
Deadly Lakes and Pools Around the World
- Lake Karachay in 1990 emitted a deadly dose of 5.6 sieverts an hour, enough to kill in around 50 minutes.
- The lake was filled with concrete in 2015 to limit radiation, but approximately one billion gallons of groundwater have been contaminated due to Soviet Union's radioactive waste dumping.
- This contamination led to a 41% increase in leukemia and other cancer rates in the Chelyabinsk region.
- Boiling Lake in Dominica's Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a hot water body heated by volcanic gases, reaching 197 degrees Fahrenheit, posing a danger to humans.
- Lake Natron in Tanzania has extremely alkaline water with a pH of 10.5, capable of burning animals due to high sodium carbonate levels.
- Lake Natron's water dries out animal remains, turning them into hard, calcified shells, with a crimson hue due to haloarchaea microorganisms.
- Devil's Pool at Victoria Falls in Zambia is a risky photo spot, with a narrow rock lip separating it from a 354-foot drop, dangerous during Zimbabwe's wet season due to rising water levels and crocodile and hippo presence.
- Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is a hazardous area with mobile tectonic plates causing earthquakes, poisonous sulfur and chlorine gas emissions, scalding hot springs, and active volcanoes.
