The Hottest Place on Earth
In the north of Africa's Great Rift Valley lies an extraordinary desert, unlike anywhere else on Earth. The cradle of mankind and home to our earliest ancestors, the Danakil Desert in Ethiopia is one of the most geologically active places on the planet. Volcanoes and earth**s rip apart the ground in front of your very eyes. And it's officially the hottest place on Earth. Within this remote furnace temperatures can hit 60 degrees Celsius (145 degrees Fahrenheit), and there is almost no water. It should be devoid of life, but it's not. Somehow people live here - a legendarily tough, nomadic warrior tribe called the Afar.
A team of experts and explorers venture into the Danakil desert in Northern Ethiopia to investigate the incredible geology of the area, and to find out how the people and their animals survive in the hottest place on earth. Kate Humble investigates how tough life is for an Afar woman; Steve Leonard wants to learn about the relationship between the Afar and their animals, and to help with animal medicine where he can; Dr Mukul Agarwal looks at the health issues faced in this most hostile of environments; earth scientist Dougal Jerram looks at the extraordinary volcanic activity of the region and the part it plays in the bigger geological picture of the Rift Valley; and biologist Richard Wiese searches for extreme life forms in the boiling soil of a massive volcanic fissure.9
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