Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for August 02, 2023

wow

Before falling for the “hottest day in recorded history” line, remember that thirty years ago it was unlikely that temperature was recorded with more accuracy than 0.1° F. Sixty years ago, there weren’t satellites measuring temperatures. And one-hundred years ago, most of the places that are now paved airport spaces (where official temperatures are often recorded) were open farmland. The farther back you look, the less accurate you get. Forty-two years ago, I was that guy with a notebook and a dial type high-low thermometer recording “official” temperatures.

Hottest day ever in recorded time? Well, we just need to pay more taxes!

Not here in Ireland or the UK. I live in Ireland and it has been confirmed that July has been the wettest July since records began with most places getting at least 200% more rainfall than it should do. The temperatures are not seasonal at all either. The average tempreture is between 17 and 23 degrees C (62.6 – 73.4 F).

Aren’t the concepts of plain sight and camouflage mutually exclusive?

The Horned Screamer is more sought after than the Horned Moaner

Feelin’ hot, hot, hot

Yeah I’m going with " or not" on that first one. Medieval times were significantly warmer than right now. The climate is supposed to change. We are just returning to that phase.

Horned screamer probably lives with a permanent headache.

Tried to grow parsley one year – apparently it’s the favorite food of blue swallowtail butterfly caterpillars – they have retractable “horns” called osmeterium that freaked me out the first time I saw it.

Maybe those caterpillars aren’t all that smart. Maybe birds pick off all the ones they can easily see, and that leaves just the caterpillars that happened to be in line with the midrib.

How does RBION know what the temperature was before it was measurable?

We have only been keeping daily temperature readings since the 1860s. HOW do you know it was the hottest day in HISTORY???

If you had a piece of your spine sticking out of your forehead, wouldn’t you be screaming?

You’d be screaming too if somebody stuck a horn in your head and you can’t even play an musical instrument!

According to nasa.gov, the current heat wave is being caused by the enormous release of water vapor (the most common greenhouse gas by a factor of about a 100) into the atmosphere by the Tongan underwater volcanic explosion of 2022. The Washington Post expects higher temps worldwide for 5 years or more, due to water’s greenhouse effect.

And just how hot was the “hottest day on earth”?