Coldest place on Earth is even colder
The uncertainty of science: Scientists have found that the coldest place on Earth in Antarctica is even colder than previously believed.
Scientists announced in 2013 they had found the lowest temperatures on Earth’s surface: Sensors on several Earth-observing satellites measured temperatures of minus 93 degrees Celsius (minus 135 degrees Fahrenheit) in several spots on the East Antarctic Plateau, a high snowy plateau in central Antarctica that encompasses the South Pole. But the researchers revised that initial study with new data and found the temperatures actually reach minus 98 degrees Celsius (minus 144 degrees Fahrenheit) during the southern polar night, mostly during July and August.
When the researchers first announced they had found the coldest temperatures on Earth five years ago, they determined that persistent clear skies and light winds are required for temperatures to dip this low. But the new study adds a twist to the story: Not only are clear skies necessary, but the air must also be extremely dry, because water vapor traps some heat in the air.
They say this is about as cold as it is possible on the Earth’s surface, as it presently exists.
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The uncertainty of science: Scientists have found that the coldest place on Earth in Antarctica is even colder than previously believed.
Scientists announced in 2013 they had found the lowest temperatures on Earth’s surface: Sensors on several Earth-observing satellites measured temperatures of minus 93 degrees Celsius (minus 135 degrees Fahrenheit) in several spots on the East Antarctic Plateau, a high snowy plateau in central Antarctica that encompasses the South Pole. But the researchers revised that initial study with new data and found the temperatures actually reach minus 98 degrees Celsius (minus 144 degrees Fahrenheit) during the southern polar night, mostly during July and August.
When the researchers first announced they had found the coldest temperatures on Earth five years ago, they determined that persistent clear skies and light winds are required for temperatures to dip this low. But the new study adds a twist to the story: Not only are clear skies necessary, but the air must also be extremely dry, because water vapor traps some heat in the air.
They say this is about as cold as it is possible on the Earth’s surface, as it presently exists.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Interesting, I did notice that the coldest temperatures were near 11,000 feet. I have long maintained that heat on earth is mostly a function of air pressure. (All heat is friction) A loss of 5.4° of heat for every thousand feet would equal a 60° drop in temperature at 11,000 feet.
The coldest temperatures in the Southern(?) shadow of the South pole ridges?
The 24/7 sun is circling the South Pole, light never touches the coldest areas? (not relevant during the coldest six months of no sunlight)
Perhaps… you would think with 4 months of continuous Sun light, Antarctica would be the hottest place on earth. The average temperature difference at the south pole between summer and winter is 30° (-70F to -40F)
Have you ever heard of the temperatures in Antarctica going up over 100°F in a few hours? Although the temperature is still below freezing in most cases, The Chinook winds that cause hot dry winds on the other side of mountain ranges also occur near the Ross Ice shelf. The scientific name of the chinook is the foehn winds, named after the heating of air as the air passes over the Alps. (I did not know this !)
https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2010JCLI3382.1
Very extreme documentation of the heating of air, especially in the winter time, with the only causation is elevation and a low pressure storm pulling the air over the mountain range. (no CO2, no sunlight)
How odd that I have never heard of this, has anyone else?
You think that’s cold, you should come over on Thanksgiving when my mother-in-law arrives. There’s nothing colder than a mother-in-law’s love.