Going to Extremes andSurviving Extremes are television programmes made forChannel 4 byNick Middleton. In each episode of the two series, Middleton visited an extreme area of the world to find out how people have adapted to life there.[1]
BothGoing to Extremes andSurviving Extremes were accompanied by books of the same name, except in the USA where the latter was titledExtremes: Surviving the World's Harshest Environments.
There was also a third series, titledGoing to Extremes: The Silk Routes.
In this series, Middleton visited the coldest, hottest, driest and wettest permanent settlements in the world.
Oymyakon inSiberia, where the average winter temperature is −47 °F (− 44 °C).
Arica inChile, where there had been fourteen consecutive years without rain. Fog is the only local source of water.
Mawsynram in India, where average annual rainfall is 14 meters, falling within a four-month period in themonsoon season. The rainfall is approximately equal to that of its neighborCherrapunji.
Dallol inEthiopia, known as the 'Hell-hole of creation'[2] where the temperature averages 94 °F (34 °C) over the year.
In his second series, Middleton visited places without permanent towns, locations where "survival requires a lifestyle completely in tune with Nature's rhythms."