Top 10 Most Uninhabitable Places on the Surface of the Earth
Our planet is lucky enough to be in what's called a "Goldilocks Zone", which means a zone in space where it's not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist. In fact, we're even more lucky to be on this planet than you realize because, as of right now, it's the only planet known to be able to support life in the entire universe! Basically, Earth is the perfect planet to live on. The most inhabitable one. However, there are some places and zones on Earth that you most definitely don't want to live on, and we're going to be taking a look at those. So, here are the Top 10 Most Uninhabitable Places on Earth! Enjoy!
Antarctica, unsurprisingly, is pretty much impossible to live on. Covered with ice year-round, and having completely sterile (which means lifeless) soil as well as extremely harsh conditions that make it pretty much impossible to grow anything or have pretty much any economic activities at all here, which means no food and hence no way for humans to thrive. Another big factor is the horribly low temperatures, in fact, the lowest ever temperatures were recorded there with - 89.2 degrees Celsius (192.6 Fahrenheit) and life really can't survive there. Surprisingly, Antarctica is also home to the driest place in the world, which is also really bad for life. There are no permanent human settlements there, though there are some bases where scientists and researchers may come to study for a few weeks or months, but the only way that they're even able to survive at all is with tons and tons of help and supplies from the outside world, and if that's cut off they won't last very long.
The Danakil Depression, which is the northern part of the Afar Triangle located in Ethiopia, is a geological depression that's gained a lot of fame from being known by many as the "Most Dangerous Place on Earth". Approximately 10 000 square kilometers, it's has a ton of aspects that make it extremely dangerous. There is sterile water and harsh conditions that make life impossible to thrive there, in addition to boiling hot water bubbles, poisonous chlorine and gases that basically choke the air. It gets extremely hot, and is also known sometimes as the hottest place on Earth, with temperatures easily going over 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit). And it's not just the heat and the horrible water and air. Earthquakes are felt there very often, and there are tons of active volcanoes there as well, the most famous being the prolific Erta Ale. It's pretty clear that you are about as likely to survive here as you are on Mars, and perhaps even less, and this is easily one of the absolute most uninhabitable places in the entire world.
Many people don't consider the North Pole a place, as it's made of ice and not actual land, but I'd say it certainly counts as a location. With the exception of Santa Claus, nobody has been able to successfully establish a home on the North Pole, and nobody's tried very hard as it's clearly almost impossible. Its climate is freezing and try, and as it has no soil you can't grow anything there, which basically means there's no food. There are a few animals that live there, but they aren't a food source, they're actually more of a danger. Surprisingly, the most dangerous thing on the North Pole isn't the ice, or the animals, or even the lack of any food - it's the ice. It causes reduced visibility, slipperiness, as well as cracks that could send you underwater and kill you almost instantly. The North Pole is practically impossible to survive on and is definitely one of the least inhabitable places on the entire planet.
Chernobyl is one of the most famous places in the world for the horrible nuclear disaster that occurred there in 1986, which is almost unanimously considered the worst nuclear disaster in history for having both the highest cost and the highest death toll of any nuclear disasters. It's gotten so famous due to the fact that there's still awful radiation from the disaster and there have been many TV shows and movie adaptions of the disaster. Anyways, while some people actually do still live there (very, very few), they risk enormously awful amounts of radiation, and I'm not quite sure why they still live there but they definitely aren't going to live very long. The radiation in Chernobyl during the disaster caused many life-threatening diseases, horrible burns, and even psychological effects that pushed many to suicide. Even to live their now will likely cause, over time, cancer or other diseases. What's unique about this item is that it was quite habitable at a time, but the disaster changed it into a virtually uninhabitable place where humans really shouldn't live without risking their life.
This item is probably pretty confusing as the Valley of Death from Russia is another item on here and the two can be confusing, but Death Valley is definitely one of the most uninhabitable places on Earth. Located in California, Death Valley has gained lots of fame for having the highest recorded temperature ever there, 56.7 Celsius (which is 134.1 Fahrenheit), and the average temperature is usually around the low forties, which is extremely hot. While there are a few people who live in Death Valley year-round, it's not a good idea and there's a lot of things you have to do to insure your survival. Many people have died from overheating or dehydration, and if you live there you have to drink a lot of water. Humans are able to live almost anywhere with the advanced technology we now possess, but some places are simply uninhabitable and shouldn't be lived in, and Death Valley is an example.
Many people, upon seeing this, will get it confused with the infamous Death Valley in California, but the Valley of Death in Russia is something entirely different. The Valley of Death is a valley, located in Russia in the Eastern part of the Kamchatka peninsula, at the foot of a stratovolcano called Kikhpinych (hopefully I got that right). The valley itself is about 2 kilometers by half a kilometer, which is a fair size. Anyways, what's so uninhabitable about this valley is the volcanic gases. With the stratovolcano nearby, the volcanic gases from it accumulate and kill anything that enters it, from birds to mammals to even humans, if they are foolish enough to go into it without insane equipment or even go in it at all. Living organisms just really aren't supposed to be able to live in there, and it's pretty clear that this should be on the list.
People used to live there until the 1920's due to that a lighthouse keeper and his family got killed by snakes in the middle of the night when they slithered through their windows. That is some horror movie grade death right there!
You may have heard of the Ilha de Queimada Grande, more commonly known as Snake Island, which is a fairly small island just off the coast of Brazil. Now, I'm sure you can understand from the name that this is a pretty dangerous place, but it's even worse than it sounds. The Island is home to (well, overrun with is a better word for it) golden lancehead snakes, which are venomous pit vipers whose bite will kill a person in under an hour. I'm sure that you're probably thinking "well, people should still be able to live there despite a few snakes", but the craziest thing is just how many snakes there are. Researchers have estimated that there's about one snake per square meter on the island. So, on average, for every freaking square meter of the island, which isn't a lot of space, there is a snake, and if the snake bites you, you'll be dead within the hour. Yeah, no humans are going to last long there. The Brazilian Government has forbidden anyone to go to the island, both for their own safety as well as for the safety of the snakes, as they're an endangered species. But you won't last long here, and while it's lush with wildlife and plants it's pretty much uninhabitable to humans.
Atacama Desert has gained fame due to the fact that it is the driest desert in the world, and the driest place in the world other than the North and South Poles. Located in Chile, parts of the desert have lots of life, but the majority is practically impossible to live in. Aside from only receiving about 0.04 inches of rainfall on an average year, which is an insanely tiny amount (New York, for example, gets about 50 inches of rainfall a year which is 1250 times more than what Atacama desert gets), the Andes Mountains and the Chilean Costal range kind of block off the desert, which blocks moisture from getting in, so it's now a death zone for vegetation, with absolutely no water or nutrients. Many people are able to live in here, but only in the few oases or on coastal fishing villages, not in the middle of the desert and where I'm talking about, where it's basically uninhabitable.
This is a good one, it's really hard to survive there for a climb, let alone inhabit it!
Bouvet Island is basically the most remote island in the world... and it's also very hard to survive. Located 2,600 kilometers away from the nearest land (South Africa), almost all of this island is covered in glaciers and the bit that isn't covered in glaciers is very rocky. There is a complete lack of shelter there or ways to even make your own shelter, and not only is it barren and unlivable, it's also freezing. It's possible to survive there with modern-day technology, but nobody's bothered as it's so isolated and uninhabitable, and you'd be dependent on other places to ship supplies very far to you. One or two boats were actually discovered near the island, but they were completely empty and it's very unlikely that the people on them survived even with lots of resources.
Northern Canada is home to some of the largest uninhabited land in the world due to very harsh conditions such as cold and wind, barren, sterile soil, and remoteness, and one of the absolute least habitable places there is Devon Island. Devon Island is a large island near the very top of Canada that is virtually unlivable, though that's not for lack of trying. Inuit families have tried to settle there many times but the cold and wind were absolutely unbearable and usually destroyed buildings and boats very quickly, making pretty much all attempts unsuccessful. Other outposts were also established but almost always abandoned due to it being very tough to maintain. There have been some uses of this enormous and empty island, however. Lots of researchers and scientists have came to study there because the island is a good simulator for Mars, which humans are looking to colonize. NASA's used the freezing temperatures and barren terrain as well as its remoteness and complete isolation to train crew members and test equipment.
Second tallest mountain in the world, located beside Mount Everest
I'll prove it. I hiked Washington once and at the tree line there was a sign " The area ahead has some of the worst weather in the world. If the weather is bad, turn around right now"
This is a very windy mountain in New Hampshire.
This is the northernmost point of land on Earth.
It is so remote, unpredictable weather and full of dangerous animals. It will take the toughest to survive even a year on the island.
Amber Heard should be banished to this island one day!
This small island near Greenland, is complete rock and virtually nothing else. No trees, no plants, no animals, just a rocky island surrounded by the ocean. It would be near impossible to live there.
It is no longer dangerous, and nowadays quite habitable.
This island is famous for being the home of the Sentinelese people, a tribe known for their extreme hostility towards outsiders, to the point they will throw wooden spears and arrows at anyone or anything that comes close to the island. The Indian government, who owns the island, has even made it illegal to visit the island.