Extremes
Encyclopedia
Going to Extremes and Surviving Extremes are television programmes made for Channel 4
by Nick Middleton
. In each episode of the two series, Middleton visits an extreme area of the world to find out how people have adapted to life there.
Both Going to Extremes and Surviving Extremes are accompanied by books of the same name, except in the USA where the latter is titled Extremes: Surviving the World's Harshest Environments.
There is also a third series, titled "Going to Extremes: The Silk Routes".
Cold:
The coldest permanent settlement in the world is Oymyakon
in Siberia
, where the average winter temperature is -47°F (-44°C).
Dry:
The driest permanent settlement in the world is Arica
in Chile
where there have been fourteen consecutive years without a drop of rain. Fog is the people's only source of water.
Wet:
The wettest permanent settlement in the world is Mawsynram
in India
which annually competes for the title with its neighbor Cherrapunji
. However, outside of the monsoon
season, there is a water shortage.
Hot:
The hottest permanent settlement in the world is Dallol
in Ethiopia
known as the 'Hell hole of creation' where the temperature averages 94°F (34°C) year round.
Sand - Niger
: Middleton travels with a group of women across the fiendishly hot Sahara to trade date palms.
Ice - Greenland
: Middleton travels with the indigenous people of northern Greenland, where four fifths of the land is permanently ice-covered.
Jungle - Democratic Republic of Congo: Middleton visits the dangerous jungle in Congo.
Swamp - Papua
: Middleton discovers how people live with very little solid land.
Toxic - Kazakhstan: Middleton visits a former Soviet biological weapons testing site (abandoned, "its just too lethal" says Middleton)
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
by Nick Middleton
Nick Middleton
Nick Middleton is a physical geographer and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.Nick Middleton was born in London, England. As a geographer he has travelled to more than 50 countries...
. In each episode of the two series, Middleton visits an extreme area of the world to find out how people have adapted to life there.
Both Going to Extremes and Surviving Extremes are accompanied by books of the same name, except in the USA where the latter is titled Extremes: Surviving the World's Harshest Environments.
There is also a third series, titled "Going to Extremes: The Silk Routes".
Going to Extremes
In this series, Middleton visited the coldest, hottest, driest and wettest permanent settlements in the world.Cold:
The coldest permanent settlement in the world is Oymyakon
Oymyakon
Oymyakon is a village in Oymyakonsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River, 30 kilometres northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway.-Geography:...
in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, where the average winter temperature is -47°F (-44°C).
Dry:
The driest permanent settlement in the world is Arica
Arica, Chile
Arica is a commune and a port city with a population of 185,269 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica and Parinacota Region, located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the capital of both the Arica Province and the Arica and Parinacota Region...
in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
where there have been fourteen consecutive years without a drop of rain. Fog is the people's only source of water.
Wet:
The wettest permanent settlement in the world is Mawsynram
Mawsynram
Mawsynram is a village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya state in north-eastern India, 56 kilometers from Shillong. It is reportedly the wettest place on Earth, with an annual rainfall of...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
which annually competes for the title with its neighbor Cherrapunji
Cherrapunji
Cherrapunji , is a subdivisional town in the East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. It is credited as being the second wettest place on Earth...
. However, outside of the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
season, there is a water shortage.
Hot:
The hottest permanent settlement in the world is Dallol
Dallol, Ethiopia
Dallol was a settlement in northern Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 2 of the Afar Region in the Afar Depression, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of about 130 meters below sea level...
in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
known as the 'Hell hole of creation' where the temperature averages 94°F (34°C) year round.
Surviving Extremes
In his second series, Middleton visited places without permanent towns, locations where "survival requires a lifestyle completely in tune with Nature's rhythms."Sand - Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
: Middleton travels with a group of women across the fiendishly hot Sahara to trade date palms.
Ice - Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
: Middleton travels with the indigenous people of northern Greenland, where four fifths of the land is permanently ice-covered.
Jungle - Democratic Republic of Congo: Middleton visits the dangerous jungle in Congo.
Swamp - Papua
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
: Middleton discovers how people live with very little solid land.
Toxic - Kazakhstan: Middleton visits a former Soviet biological weapons testing site (abandoned, "its just too lethal" says Middleton)
Further reading
- Middleton, NickNick MiddletonNick Middleton is a physical geographer and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.Nick Middleton was born in London, England. As a geographer he has travelled to more than 50 countries...
Going to Extremes: Mud, Sweat and Frozen Tears.- Channel 4 books, 2001, hardcover, ISBN 0-7522-2016-0
- Pan Books - Macmillan UK, 2003, paperback, ISBN 0-330-49384-1.
- Middleton, NickNick MiddletonNick Middleton is a physical geographer and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.Nick Middleton was born in London, England. As a geographer he has travelled to more than 50 countries...
Extremes : Surviving the World's Harshest Environments .- Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, hardcover, ISBN 0-312-34266-7.
- Middleton, NickNick MiddletonNick Middleton is a physical geographer and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.Nick Middleton was born in London, England. As a geographer he has travelled to more than 50 countries...
Surviving Extremes.- Macmillan, paperback, 2004, ISBN 0-330-43182-X.