Is Antarctica or the Arctic the coldest placer on Earth? Why is one colder than the other?
In the natural world, Antarctica is where to look for the coldest place on Earth. In 1983, thermometers at the Soviet Vostok Station recorded an air temperature of -89.2°C.
This remains the lowest temperature ever measured directly at ground level. But remote satellite measurements of surface ice at -93.2°C suggest it might get even colder than that.
Antarctica is colder than the Arctic because it is a landmass surrounded by ocean, and is higher on average than the Arctic – thanks in part to the Transantarctic Mountains. The Antarctic Ice Sheet is also bigger and thicker than the Arctic’s ice.
Antarctica is home to a hole host of wildlife from penguins to albatrosses, seals to whales
- Does Antarctica have any insects?
- Why polar bears can’t live in Antarctica
- Are there snakes in the Arctic?
- Why are there no penguins in the Arctic?
In the lab, scientists can artificially reduce the temperature to just a few trillionths of a degree above the theoretical minimum of -273.15oC, at which point particles stop moving.