What Is the Coldest Temperature of the Earth?
Residents of cities like Buffalo, Minneapolis, Chicago and Boston know about brutal winter conditions. Temperatures can reach -20 to -30 degrees F in extreme conditions that feel even colder when the wind is blowing. However, those cities have nothing on Vostok in Antarctica, the site of the coldest recorded temperature on the face of the earth.
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History
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A Russian research station in Vostok, Antartica is credited with a temperature of minus -138 degrees F on July 21, 1983. That is the coldest temperature in recorded history. Vostok has an elevation of 11,000 feet. A U.S. research station in Plateau Station, Antarctica reached a temperature of -129 degrees F. The temperature in Vostok and Plateau Station beat the record of -96 degree F set in Oymyakon, Russia, in January, 1926. The Russian government actually encouraged nomads to live in Oymyakon and it is believed to be the coldest inhabited place on Earth. People survive in the freezing temperatures of Oymyakon by wearing fur and eating reindeer meat and horse meat. Reindeer fur is particuarly warm because each of the short hairs are hollow and the air in the fur shafts has an insulating effect for those who wear it.
Time Frame
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Temperatures in Oymyakon remain brutally cold 10 months a year. In the other two months, temperatures can exceed 100 degrees F. In Antarctica, there are 6 months of darkness when the temperatures are at their coldest and 6 months of light where the temperatures are somewhat warmer.
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Geography
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Scientists consider Antarctica to be the world's largest desert. Most people believe a desert is hot and dry but that is not the case. A desert is any area that receives almost no rainfall. Despite the ice on the surface, that is the definition of Antarctica.
Benefits
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Despite the brutally cold temperatures at Plateau Station, a robotic observatory was installed there in Jan. 2008. The facility is called the PLATeau Observatory and was built by a team of researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia. The location is ideal for scientists because the 11,000 foot elevation and calm weather provide the ideal conditions for observing atmospheric conditions. Despite the cold, the weather remains calm there nearly all the time. The year-round facility operates remotely over the low-bandwidth Iridium satellite service.
Expert Insight
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Nobody can live in Antarctica because of the cold and extreme weather conditions. Travel there over the stormy seas is brutal and can be dangerous. However, we have more insight into Antarctica because scientists can go there and perform research when that was not possible in the past. Scientists have theorized that Antarctica may have a cold environtment similar to Mars.
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