What's the Coldest Place On Earth?

is the coldest place on Earth? In July one was a day for the record books. One of the most remote facilities in all of ant Arctica is a place called Vostik Station, run by the Russian government and previously the U. S SR. It's located on the East Antarctic ice Sheet, just eight hundred miles or about kilometers away

from the geographic South Pole. On that historic date, the researchers working at the station measured the lowest near surface air temperature that's ever been recorded, negative a hundred and twenty eight point five six degrees fahrenheit or negative eighty nine point two degrees celsius. But note that qualifier. We specifically said near surface air temperature. That term is about to become very important to our discussion for the article.

This episode is based on how Stuff Works. Spoke by email with Ted Scambos, a polar geophysicist based at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He explained that near surface air temperature is the temperature that the thermometer reads at one point five to three meters or about five to ten feet above the surface of the Earth. But quote the reference height for formal measurements is six ft six inches

or so, that's two meters above the surface. When you go higher or lower the measured temperature, your location may change, and surface temperatures are a different beast Altogether, that's the actual temperature of the physical surface of the planet, whether that's soil, rock, water, or ice. With that in mind, let's return to Antarctica. Scambos was the lead author of a teen study that reported on ultra low surface temperatures

in East Antarctica. One of its co authors was one Atsuhiro Muto, a geophysicist and polar scientist at Temple University who house to Works also spoke with via email. This study, which was published as a letter in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, describes how Scambos, Mutho and their colleagues used satellite sensors to investigate weather patterns on the East Antarctic Plateau. The plateau is at the center of the continent and is where the geographic south Pole is located, but that's

not its only attraction. Dome Argus, the highest point of elevation in Eastern Antarctica, is also situated on the plateau. This icy spot looms over thirteen thousand, four hundred feet or four thousand meters above sea level. Four decades artificial satellites, including some built and maintained by NASA, have overseen the

conditions on the East Antarctic Plateau. Scambos, Muto and their colleagues went back and reviewed the relevant data gathered by these devices during the winters of two thousand four through

two thousand sixteen. In that time, the satellites observed surface temperatures of around negative hundred and thirty eight degrees fahrenheit that's negative ninety eight degrees celsius at roughly one hundred Shallow depressions on the plateau, all scattered across a broad region that includes dome Argus but sits at a higher elevation than of Vostok Station. These are the lowest surface

temperatures ever recorded anywhere on Earth. Muto stresses that because the data was collected by Earth observing satellites quote, no human being experienced these low temperatures. To my knowledge, the lowest temperature recorded by a physical thermometer and experienced by humans is still negative eighty nine point two degrees celsius at Vostok Station. Every year, the geographic South Pole and

nearby areas undergo a polar night. That's an extended period in which the sun never climbs above the horizon, usually in the months of July and August. Those records setting plateau temperatures were observed during this dark stretch of the calendar. Muto explained the East Antarctic Plateau is so cold because of high altitude, and the snow on the surface reflects most of the solar energy back about or more to the atmosphere. Plus, you have the polar nights during the

winter when there's no solar energy at all. Also, because of the great distance from the coast, you rarely get warmer coastal air masses penetrating inland to bring the heat. Obviously, This is not an environment for the faint hearted, Scambo said. It is a gigantic, white, flat expanse of bitter cold snow. The wind is ceaseless, the sky is a deeper blue than any place you've seen before. It is an isolated, eternal landscape. Yet even there, those record setting surface temperatures

will only occur under just the right circumstances. Prolonged darkness Loan isn't enough to bring the metaphorical thermostat all the way down to that low low point. The Scambo says that there must also be quote still air, zero clouds, incredibly dry atmosphere, and you need to be sitting in a swale in the ice surface. A swill is a sort of subtle depression in the ice that might be a couple of miles across, maybe three kilometers or so, but will just be six and a half to ten

feet deep around two to three meters. Dips and valleys in the Antarctic ice sheet trap air that's dense, dry and cold, and by South Pole standards, given enough time, the trapped air cools down surface level snow along with some of the warmer air above it. So there you have it. A shallow depressions in a high elevation part of the East Antarctic Plateau have the capacity to become the coldest places on the face of the Earth during their polar winter. The bragging rights have been claimed inform

your Midwestern relatives. Today's episode is based on the article What's the coldest place on Earth? On how stuff works dot com written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.