Swans swim over a lake, with the air temperature at about minus 35 degrees Celsius (minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit) as steam ascends above the water during sunset near the village of Urozhainy, Sovetsky district of Altai region, January 26, 2015. About 600 swans annually migrate to the lake, which is heated by warm springs, where they spend their winter being fed by yagers, which helps them to survive the severe cold. (Photo by Andrei Kasprishin/Reuters)

“A Hadaka Matsuri (“Naked Festival”) is a type of Japanese festival, or matsuri, in which participants wear a minimum amount of clothing; usually just a Japanese loincloth (called fundoshi), sometimes with a short happi coat, and rarely completely naked. Whatever the clothing, it is considered to be above vulgar, or everyday, undergarments, and on the level of holy Japanese shrine attire. Naked festivals are held in dozens of places throughout Japan every year, usually in the summer or winter. The most famous festival is held in Okayama, where the festival originated. Every year, over 9,000 men participate in this festival”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Japanese men wear loincloths as they splash about in freezing cold water during Saidaiji Naked Festival, at Saidaiji Temple on February 18, 2012 in Okayama, Japan. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

A firefighter carries a woman from her car after it was caught in street flooding as a powerful storm moves across Southern California on February 17, 2017 in Sun Valley, California. After years of severe drought, heavy winter rains have come to the state, and with them, the issuance of flash flood watches in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, and the evacuation of hundreds of residents from Duarte, California for fear of flash flooding from areas denuded by a wildfire last year. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

In this Saturday, April 8, 2017 photo, a keeper walks camels to the Al Marmoom Camel Racetrack, in al-Lisaili about 40 km (25 miles) southeast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Camel racing is a big-money sport and fast thoroughbreds can fetch well over a million dollars. As rising temperatures across Gulf Arab countries signal the end of the winter camel racing season, Dubai is wrapping up its races with the annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival that has drawn thousands of camels from across the oil-rich Gulf. (Photo by Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

Yakutsk, a remote city in Eastern Siberia along the Lena River, is the coldest city in the world. Located 1840 km away from Irkoustk and 5000 km away from Moscow, this city founded in 1632 by the Cossacks imposes upon its inhabitants an extreme way of life. And yet, despite particularly harsh conditions, Yakutsk boasts a population of 270,000, or a quarter of the entire population of Siberia. No other place on the planet experiences the temperature extreme found here: in winter, the temperatures regularly fall to minus 40° (the coldest temperature recorded was –64°C) and in summer often reaches temperatures above 30°C. Photo: January 2013. A scene in Yakutsk, Siberia, the coldest city in the world. (Photo by Steeve Iuncker/Agence VU)

“This is the terrifying moment a diver came head to head with a shark as it swims inches away snatching a bite for dinner. The close encounter, captured off Bimini Island in the Bahamas, shows the hammerhead approaching diver Eli Martinez who bravely stands his ground as the giant beast approaches. Eli, free diving outside of a protective cage, carefully handled the sea creature despite its menacing razor-sharp teeth – but admitted they are extremely shy and need a lot of work to allow divers close to them. After multiple trips and hours of diving nearby they finally got used to Eli in January this year – hammerheads regularly visit these waters during the winter season”. – Caters News. Photo: Eli Martinez with hammerhead shark. (Photo by J. P. Zegarra/Caters News)

A woman browses through kimonos for sale at Boroichi flea market in Tokyo December 15, 2014. In the 16th century, Boroichi was a place for farmers to buy and sell rags, known as boro, for mending clothes and weaving sandals. Now in its 436th year, the original spirit lingers, with about 700 stands hawking fabric, used clothes and piles of rags. Others sell kitchen tools, pottery, seaweed and spices. About 200,000 people flock to the market, which is only open for four mid-winter days a year – two in December and two in January. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

In Jukkasjärvi, a village a few miles east of Kiruna, the proprietors of one hotel begin planning for a winter ice festival in March. That’s when they begin collecting some 5,000 tons of ice from the River Torne in order to prepare the Icehotel, the world’s coolest place to stay. Options for overnight stay include snow rooms, ice rooms, art suites, and the Northern Lights room, all of which range from about $300 to $900 per night. But the deluxe suite’s the only way to go. These rooms come with a critical amenity: heated ensuite bathrooms and saunas. Here: A man walks into a room in the Ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, December 16, 2015. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)