How Much Do You Know About Antarctica?

Most of us know that it's cold in Antarctica, but have you ever thought about why it's so cold? Until today I always assumed it was because of the tilt of the earth on its axis. Although that's partially so, there are a number of additional reasons it's the coldest place on earth. And it's intriguing how logical it all is.

Here are a few of the noteworthy features of this massive continent. In addition to being the coldest place on Earth, it is also the driest and windiest continent on Earth. The average temperature in Antarctica is -56.7°C (-69.9°F), and the coldest temperature ever recorded was -89.2°C (-128.6°F). That's pretty cold.

Most people familiar with stories about Antarctica know that there's a lot of ice there. How much ice? The Antarctic ice sheet contains 90 percent of all the world's ice and 70 percent of all the world's freshwater. 

I never gave much thought to how thick that ice was. At its thickest point the ice sheet is three miles thick. On average, this continent-sized ice sheet--5.5 million square miles of it--is more than a mile thick, and it sits atop of what is already a mountainous altitude. 

Why Is Antarctica So Cold?

We already mentioned the tilt of the Earth's axis. What this means is that in summer, the South Pole receives 24 hours of sunlight, but in the winter, it receives no sunlight at all. This lack of sunlight means that the ground doesn't warm up, and the air above stays cold. (How can it warm up anyways if it is under a mountain of ice?)

The high altitude of Antarctica surprised me. Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth, with an average elevation of 2,835 meters (9,301 feet). The higher the altitude, the colder the air becomes, which is why you can see snow-capped mountains year 'round in the Rockies.

Another feature also keeps it from warming up. The ice and snow there reflects the sunlight back into space, which prevents it from warming the ground. 

Finally, the winds in Antarctica are very strong and they can blow for days or even weeks at a time. These winds can carry away heat, which helps to keep the continent cold.

In spite of all this desolation, there are a few places in Antarctica where the temperature can get relatively warm. The warmest place in Antarctica is McMurdo Station, which has an average temperature of -17.2°C (1.2°F). That surprised me. I think I could actually handle that quite alright. McMurdo Station is located on the coast of Antarctica, where the ocean helps to moderate the temps.

Anyways, I was thinking about Antarctica this morning. Too bad they can't figure out a way to transport all that ice and cold to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona for part of the year. 

What's the most surprising thing to you about Antarctica?

Related Links

A number of years ago I wrote a poem called Hitchhiking Across Antarctica in which I imagined what extreme loneliness would feel like.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: When A Building Catches Fire @32 below Zero

On Monday morning as I drove into town here in Duluth, a major fire was being attended to in the former West End, now known as the Lincoln Park District. After stopping at the library and a meeting elsewhere I attempted drive through the area and see which block the fire was on. After 35 years here I know that section of town pretty intimately. Today I learned it was the former Seaway Hotel, a.k.a. the Esmond Building.

The thermometer read 32 below zero at our house Monday, so I was imagining that in addition to the challenge of putting out the fire the firemen were also dealing with a risk of frostbite or serious exposure issues. 

For those in warmer climates, here are some photos I took today of the fire's aftermath. 

"Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice."

--Robert Frost

What do you say?

Throwback Thursday: Reflections on Water and Ice

34 below zero F. Coldest reading yet on our thermometer. The sun is a muted white, beaming from the southeast. Back down below, a prism of color rises from Rocky Run, a pulsing pillar that at times is quite pronounced and at other times so indistinct as to be invisible. It springs from the earth near two pines across the way which I have never noticed before, just this side of the gravel pit. It extends quite high at times, the endpiece of a rainbow. How strange this phenomenon on a cloudless morn.

How can it be so cold out there? Where does cold come from? Absence of heat... but the sun is no further, nor nearer, than another day 50 degrees warmer.
~ Journal note, 15 January 1994

While looking through one of my journals I came across the above observations. I was attempting to describe a phenomenon that I'd never seen before coming to Minnesota, the way fog and crystal-laden moisture refracts light in the context of intense cold. Here in the Northland you can sometimes tell how cold it is by the way it squeaks when walking on the frozen snow as you go out to fetch the paper in the morning.

Water is the strangest thing. The manner in which it changes based on temperature, and not just random temps but a specific temperature, at 0 degrees Celsius. And how it vanishes (becomes vapor) when it boils. Yet it is still H20 so that when it condenses it become moisture again.

The density of water is another mystery. You would think that when water freezes, becomes a solid, it would sink, wouldn't you? Yet when icebergs break off from Greenland they float. This seems very strange. Yet we just take it all for granted.

I was reading how water expands when it freezes. This, too, seems strange because the molecules are still H20, yet they re-form themselves somehow when they become crystals. My initial sense would be that frozen water would take less room, as if the fluid's molecules were arrange themselves tighter together when they became solid. But this is not the case. In point of fact, water expands by 9% when it freezes, hence the burst water pipes some of people have experienced in very cold weather in the Northland.

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Physics is the study of nature and natural phenomena in our world. I have fond memories of Mr. Dennison's physics class my junior year in high school. A former minor league pitcher who after 7 years finally came up for a pair of games with the Red Sox at the end of a season, he was also our Junior Varsity baseball coach. I learned a lot from Mr. Dennison about many things, but never quite got the answer to why it's so hard to hit a knuckleball.

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By the way, did you see the size of the moon last night? (Unfortunately, a sheet of clouds slid across the sky to hide the eclipse that occurred shortly after dark.) I find it intriguing that when the moon circles 'round the earth its influence causes the tides to advance and recede. Because of gravity the earth's bodies of water pull inward, or downward depending on your point of view. But when the moon passes overhead the gravitational pull of our lunar companion produces swelling seas. What's especially interesting is how the waters on the opposite side of the earth also bulge to produce a high tide there as well. (You can read how all this works here.)

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It's also interesting that water covers about two-thirds of the earth, and that when we mature our own bodies are about two-thirds water. (The ratio changes from infancy to maturity.)

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Here's another observation. Whereas water is essential for our nourishment to survive, water is also a destructive force, causing buildings to rot, dead trees to decay, and so on.

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For those who are interested in other mysteries and observations about water check out these links:

The Many Mysteries of Water

5 Weird Things About Water

Middle School Chemistry Lessons on Water and Ice

Observations on Melting and Freezing

In closing, a quote to float your boat: “Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container.” ― Wallace Stevens

EdNote: The journal entry that started this post was our second winter living just outside Duluth. Since that time I have since seen 42 below on our thermometer. Welcome to the Northland. The original blog post was published in 2015.