Why is the hottest place not at the equator?

Where on Earth is the hottest place? Many people think that the equator is the hottest place, because the sun shines all year round. Actually, the hottest place is not the equator.

If you don’t believe it, look up the world’s meteorological records. In Asia, Africa, Australia and South and North America you can find a lot of deserts very far from the equator, where daytime temperatures are much hotter than the equator. According to records, the highest temperature in the equator rarely exceeds 35°C, while in the African Sahara desert, the highest daytime temperature reaches 55°C, generally above 40°C. In the Arabian desert, the highest daytime temperature reaches 45 – 50°C. The Gobi Desert of China has the highest daytime temperature of about 45°C.

Why is the hottest place not at the equator?
The hottest place during the day is not at the equator, but in the desert.

The equator receives the most sunlight, so why not the hottest?
Open the world map to see clearly: the equatorial belt is mostly sea . The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean are all located in the equator.

The equatorial sea is vast, it has a different feature from the continent in that it can transfer heat to the depths. At the same time, evaporating seawater requires a lot of heat, plus the large heat capacity of sea water, so the water temperature rises more slowly than on the ground. Therefore, the daytime sea temperature in the equatorial region increases slowly, while in the desert the situation is completely different. There the trees are sparse, there is no water, the heat capacity of the soil and sand is small, so the temperature rises rapidly.

Soil and sand themselves are poor heat transfer, heat is difficult to transfer to the bottom. When the surface sand is very hot, the bottom sand layer is still cool, plus the desert does not have water to evaporate to dissipate heat, so when the Sun stands in shadow, the temperature in the desert increases very quickly, the surface of the sun rises. the sand burned hot.

In addition, clouds and rain on the equator are much more abundant than in the desert. It rains every day in the afternoon. Thus, the afternoon temperature will not increase anymore, and in the desert it is sunny all day, with very little rain. Therefore, the afternoon temperature will continue to rise. So the hottest place during the day is not at the equator but in the desert .