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Extremes



 
 
Going to Extremes and Surviving Extremes are television programmes made for Channel 4
Channel 4

Channel 4 is a UK Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom television broadcaster which began transmissions on 2 November 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the #Channel Four Television...
 by Nick Middleton
Nick Middleton

Nick Middleton is a physical geography geography and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.Nick Middleton was born in London, England....
. In each episode of the two series, Middleton visits an extreme area of the world to find out how people have adapted to life there.

Both Going to Extremes and Surviving Extremes are accompanied by books of the same name, except in the USA where the latter is titled Extremes: Surviving the World's Harshest Environments.

There is also a third series, titled "Going to Extremes: The Silk Routes".

his series, Middleton visited the coldest, hottest, driest and wettest permanent settlements in the world. Cold: The coldest permanent settlement in the world is Oymyakon
Oymyakon

Oymyakon is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in Oymyakonsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River, 30 kilometers northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway....
 in Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
, where the average winter temperature is -44° C (-47° F).

Dry: The driest permanent settlement in the world is Arica
Arica, Chile

Arica is a port city in northern Chile, located only 18 km south of the border with Peru....
 in Chile
Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
 where there have been fourteen consecutive years without a drop of rain and so fog is people's only source of water.

Wet: The wettest permanent settlement in the world is Mawsynram
Mawsynram

Mawsynram is a village in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya state in north-eastern India, 56 kilometers from Shillong. Reportedly the wettest place on Earth, with an annual rainfall of 11,872 mm ....
 in India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 which annually competes for the title with its neighbour Cherrapunji
Cherrapunji

Cherrapunji , is a town in East Khasi Hills district in the Indian States and territories of India of Meghalaya. It is credited as being the wettest place on Earth....
.






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Going to Extremes and Surviving Extremes are television programmes made for Channel 4
Channel 4

Channel 4 is a UK Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom television broadcaster which began transmissions on 2 November 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the #Channel Four Television...
 by Nick Middleton
Nick Middleton

Nick Middleton is a physical geography geography and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.Nick Middleton was born in London, England....
. In each episode of the two series, Middleton visits an extreme area of the world to find out how people have adapted to life there.

Both Going to Extremes and Surviving Extremes are accompanied by books of the same name, except in the USA where the latter is titled Extremes: Surviving the World's Harshest Environments.

There is also a third series, titled "Going to Extremes: The Silk Routes".

Going to Extremes

In this series, Middleton visited the coldest, hottest, driest and wettest permanent settlements in the world. Cold: The coldest permanent settlement in the world is Oymyakon
Oymyakon

Oymyakon is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in Oymyakonsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River, 30 kilometers northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway....
 in Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
, where the average winter temperature is -44° C (-47° F).

Dry: The driest permanent settlement in the world is Arica
Arica, Chile

Arica is a port city in northern Chile, located only 18 km south of the border with Peru....
 in Chile
Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
 where there have been fourteen consecutive years without a drop of rain and so fog is people's only source of water.

Wet: The wettest permanent settlement in the world is Mawsynram
Mawsynram

Mawsynram is a village in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya state in north-eastern India, 56 kilometers from Shillong. Reportedly the wettest place on Earth, with an annual rainfall of 11,872 mm ....
 in India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 which annually competes for the title with its neighbour Cherrapunji
Cherrapunji

Cherrapunji , is a town in East Khasi Hills district in the Indian States and territories of India of Meghalaya. It is credited as being the wettest place on Earth....
. However, outside of the monsoon
Monsoon

A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind that lasts for several months. The term was first used in English in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and neighboring countries to refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the region....
 season, there is water shortage.

Hot: The hottest permanent settlement in the world is Dallol
Dallol, Ethiopia

Dallol is a settlement in northern Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 2 of the Afar Region in the Afar Depression, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 50 meters above sea level....
 in Ethiopia
Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast....
 known as the 'hell hole of creation' where the temperature averages 34° C (94° F) year round.

Surviving Extremes

In his second series, Middleton visited places without permanent towns, locations where "survival requires a lifestyle completely in tune with Nature's rhythms."

Sand - Niger
Niger

Niger , officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east....
: Middleton travels with a group of women across the fiendishly hot Sahara to trade date palms.

Ice - Greenland
Greenland

Greenland is a member country of the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago....
: Middleton travels with the indigenous people of northern Greenland, where four fifths of the land is permanently ice-covered.

Jungle - Democratic Republic of Congo: Middleton visits the dangerous jungle in Congo.

Swamp - Papua
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
: Middleton discovers how people live with very little solid land.

Toxic - Kazakhstan: Middleton visits a former Soviet biological weapons testing site (abandoned, "its just too lethal" says Middleton)

Further reading

  • Middleton, Nick
    Nick Middleton

    Nick Middleton is a physical geography geography and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.Nick Middleton was born in London, England....
     Going to Extremes: Mud, Sweat and Frozen Tears.
    • Channel 4 books, 2001, hardcover, ISBN 0-7522-2016-0
    • Pan Books - Macmillan UK, 2003, paperback, ISBN 0-330-49384-1.


  • Middleton, Nick
    Nick Middleton

    Nick Middleton is a physical geography geography and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.Nick Middleton was born in London, England....
     Extremes : Surviving the World's Harshest Environments .
    • Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, hardcover, ISBN 0-312-34266-7.


  • Middleton, Nick
    Nick Middleton

    Nick Middleton is a physical geography geography and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.Nick Middleton was born in London, England....
     Surviving Extremes.
    • Macmillan, paperback, 2004, ISBN 0-330-43182-X.