Math in… Death Valley

The elevation of Badwater Basin in Death Valley, CA is -282 feet! What does that mean?

Elevation measures the distance above sea level. At sea level, the elevation is 0 feet. Everything above sea level has positive elevation. But what about things below sea level?

This is where negative numbers come into play. When something is below sea level, its elevation is less than 0, so it will be expressed as a negative number.