Antarctica, the coldest continent on the planet
Every year, when winter comes, there are people who enjoy winter, snow, but there are others who suffer and complain about low temperatures. One solution is to console yourself by thinking that there are other places where the temperatures are infinitely colder.
The coldest permanently inhabited place on earth is Northeast Siberia, where temperatures in the cities of Verkhoyansk and Oimekon fell to 67,8 ºC below zero in 1892 and 1933 respectively. And until the last studies carried out, the record was 89,2 ° C below zero, registered in the Russian scientific base of Vostok in the Antarctica this in 1983.
But, currently, what is the coldest place on earth? The coldest place on the planet's surface is located in an Antarctic mountain range on the eastern Antarctic plateau where temperatures can reach values below 92ºC below zero on a clear winter night.
A group of scientists discovered this place by analyzing the most detailed global surface temperature maps obtained to date, developed with data from remote sensing satellites such as Landsat 8 (belonging to NASA and the USGS).
The researchers analyzed data obtained from various satellites over 32 years. They found that in dozens of cases the record for coldest temperatures was located at a series of points between the Antarctic mountain ranges of, two peaks located on what is known as the East Antarctic Plateau. The new record was reached on August 10, 2010, reaching values of 93,2 ºC below zero.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMCSyD4jVoc
It was already suspected that this Antarctic mountain range could reach temperatures below those of Vostok due to its altitude, but it was finally, thanks to the Landsat 8 sensor, that it was possible to study this area in more detail and determine its values.
The road to finding an answer to the question, what is the coldest temperature that can be reached on earth and why? Began when some researchers were studying the displacement of large snow dunes on the eastern Antarctic plateau. When the scientists increased the detail, they observed cracks in the surface of the snow between the dunes, possibly created when temperatures dropped so low that the upper layer of snow sank.
In this area there are already extreme temperatures that fall even more when the sky is clear. If the sky remains clear for several days, the temperature of the ground drops further, letting the remaining heat escape. In this way a layer of super-cold air forms over the snow and ice, denser than the air above, descending the slopes of the mountain ranges of the eastern Antarctic plateau and entering the ice crevices, and in this way temperature drops even more.
According to the researchers, if the air remains static for a long time, the remaining heat continues to be radiated, and in this way the records of cold in the globe are reached. At first it was thought that these record temperatures would be found in very specific areas, indicates Scambos (project leader), but it has been discovered that on the contrary it is observed in a wide strip of high altitude Antarctica.
More information: Siberian Altai region recorded the highest temperatures in 170 years, The oldest ice core in the world discovered in Antarctica, Russian scientists report they have reached Lake Vostok 2 miles under the Antarctic ice
Source: NASA