Question: What is the hottest and coldest climate a human could survive in.

Emma Ross answered on 19 Jun 2013:

the cold it really depends how well clothed you are! In Antarctics, temperatures regularly get to -60°C, and people can survive here if they have very good technical clothing that keeps their core body temperature within the normal range of 36.5-38°C. If your core body temperature drops to below 35°C, you are siad to be ‘hypothermic’ and that is when the cold will start to affect how well your body functions – you will start shivering, bceaus the shaking movement warms you up from the heat produced by the energy you use to shiver.
If you have the right clothing it is fairly easy to keep your core body temperature in a safe zone, but your extremities – like your fingers, ears, nose are at a big risk if the air temperature is too cold. The blood vessels in these areas constrict, as the body sends the blood (which carries heat) to the core of the body insteads to make sure that stays warm. When blood flow to the extremities is reduced, the skin goes an unnatural looking “pasty white” color and loses sensation. If you don’t cover the skin up and try and warm it, the skin actually falls below freezing point and ice crystals form within the live cells of the skin killing them in the process. If this happens it is likely that the dead tissue, often in places like the end of the fingers, has to be cut off.
In cold temperatures the wind also makes a difference, and in calm conditions at -29°C a well clothed person is in little danger, but if there is a light wind of 10mph it gives the same effect as a temperature of -44°C when exposed flesh can freeze in a minute or so.

In the heat, again, its all about keeping your core temperature in the normal range, so your body works hard to stop it becoming higher than 38, a condition known as hyperthermia. one of the ways we keep ourselves cool is to redirect a lot of our blood flow to the skin, so the blood, which carries our body heat, can be near to the cooler outside of the body. So we cool down by sending our blood to just below the skins surface, and the heat can dissipate into the cooler atmosphere around us.
It’s really important that we get rid of heat from our body when we are hot, because if we get too hot, the cells in our bodies stop functioning very well, and this can be very dangerous