Article: Quizzical: this month, Chris Edwards tackles temperature extremes, the size of Belgium, categorising nations' development status, the hydrogen bombs dropped on Japan and the number of people who speak Scottish Gaelic.

Which part of the world experiences the greatest extremes of temperature?

M Thompson, Coventry

In Verkhoyhansk, Sibera, when it gets hot, it gets pretty hot. But when it gets cold, it gets really cold. Over the course of a year, the temperature in this town in Eastern Yakutia has plummeted to--68[degrees]C and then soared to 35[degrees]C: a difference of 103[degrees]C.

The town is located just inside the Arctic Circle and has a continental climate, being more than 500 kilometres from the northern coast of Siberia. In winter, cold, dry Arctic air helps to cool things even further and this part of Siberia has become known as the Cold Pole. On ...

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