Recently perusing popularmechanics.com, I came across an article 8 of the Most Dangerous Places (To Live) on the Planet. Given that I don’t live anywhere remotely dangerous, I was fascinated by these vulnerable areas of the world.

Among the eight:

The Cold Pole

Verkhoyansk, Russia

Approximately 1500 people reside in Verkhoyansk, the oldest city above the Arctic Circle. For nine months of the year, it’s frozen solid; September to March the city averages fewer than 5 hours of sunlight each day. Temperatures fall between minus 60 and minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrr.

(Read more)

The African Lake of Death

Lake Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo/Rwanda

Lake Kivu, spans 2700 square miles, with 2.3 trillion cubic feet of methane gas and 60 cubic miles of carbon dioxide trapped beneath the lake under the pressure of the water and earth. If released, 2 million Africans will be clouded with this deadly mix.

(Read more)

The Mountain of Fire

Mount Merapi, Indonesia

Smoke continuously flows from the 10,000 feet in the sky of this volcano waiting to erupt. Interpreted as Fire Mountain,” its erupted approximately 60 times in the past five centuries, the most recent in 2006. In1994, 60 people died from its eruption; in 1930, there were 1000 casualties.

(Read more)

And that’s just the beginning. Read the full eight here.

Love to travel? Check out the Lonely Planet books, including the upcoming Lonely Planet’s Best In Travel 2010.

Image: the Mount Merapi volcano. (Photograph by Tarko Sudiarno/AFP/Getty Images); courtesy of Popular Mechanics

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