The Short Answer: Both the Arctic (North Pole) and the Antarctic (South Pole) are cold because they don’t get any direct sunlight. However, the South Pole is a lot colder than the North Pole.
Is Antarctica the coldest continent?
Antarctica is the coldest place on earth. It is also the windiest, driest, and highest continent.
Is there more ice in the Arctic or Antarctic?
So the Arctic Ocean has a layer of cold, fresh water near the surface with warmer, saltier water below. This cold, fresh water layer typically allows more ice growth in the Arctic than the Antarctic.
Is Antarctica or Alaska colder?
Antarctica averages at least 35 degrees colder than the Arctic. The highest temperature ever recorded at the geographic South Pole, located on Antarctica, is 9.9 degrees F. … That just nips Alaska’s coldest official temperature, a -80 F felt at Prospect Creek off the Dalton Highway north of the Yukon River on Jan.
Is Arctic or Antarctic better?
The Arctic offers breathtaking views of fjords, mountains, and glaciers, and there are more green areas with trees and vegetation than you may expect. Antarctica, which is almost totally covered in ice, has icebergs and glaciers of incredible height, without any of the vegetation the northern polar regions have.
Can people live in Antarctica?
So perhaps it won’t come as a surprise to hear that Antarctica is also the only continent without an indigenous human population. … Although there are no native Antarcticans and no permanent residents or citizens of Antarctica, many people do live in Antarctica each year.
Which country is closest to Antarctica?
The nearest countries to Antarctica are South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina. On Antarctica there are no cities or villages, 98% of the continent is covered by ice. The map shows also the location of scientific research stations operated by various countries on the continent.
Is ice growing in the Antarctic?
East Antarctica sea ice has been increasing since 1978, though not at a statistically significant rate. … Melting of the ice shelves in turn causes the ice streams to speed up. The melting and disappearance of the floating ice shelves will only have a small effect on sea level, which is due to salinity differences.
What happens if Antarctica melts?
If all the ice covering Antarctica , Greenland, and in mountain glaciers around the world were to melt, sea level would rise about 70 meters (230 feet). The ocean would cover all the coastal cities. And land area would shrink significantly. … Ice actually flows down valleys like rivers of water .
Why is the Antarctic colder than the Arctic?
Both the Arctic (North Pole) and the Antarctic (South Pole) are cold because they don’t get any direct sunlight. … The Antarctic is land surrounded by ocean. The ocean under the Arctic ice is cold, but still warmer than the ice! So the ocean warms the air a bit.
Why do airplanes not fly over Antarctica?
Firstly, there’s a lack of any real need to fly over the South Pole. There’s a lot less airline traffic in the far reaches of the southern hemisphere than the northern hemisphere. For example, the southern hemisphere doesn’t have the equivalent of those typically busy sub polar routes between North America and Asia.
What is the coldest city on earth?
That’s how he ended up in Yakutsk, Russia. The capital city of the vast (1.2 million square miles) Siberian region known as the Sakha Republic, Yakutsk is widely identified as the world’s coldest city. “No other place on Earth experiences this temperature extreme,” Iuncker says.
What is the most coldest place on Earth?
Dome Fuji, Antarctica
Recording a reading of -92.3°C, this dry, cold desert was declared the coldest place on Earth, beating the previous record at the Vostok station (see below), which had stood since 1983.
Can you legally move to Antarctica?
You can’t move to Antarctica, find somewhere to live and then find a job, meet someone, get married, buy a house, have kids, send them to school, start your own business, become a member of the local golf club and become mayor.
Can polar bears live in Antarctica?
Polar bears live in the Arctic, but not Antarctica. Down south in Antarctica you’ll find penguins, seals, whales and all kinds of seabirds, but never polar bears. … Polar bears don’t live in Antarctica.
Can anyone go to the Arctic?
Though inaccessible for most of the year, it is possible to travel to the North Pole in June and July when the ice is thinner, or in April if travelling via helicopter. All North Pole voyages start and end in Helsinki, Finland, from where you’ll fly by charter plane to Murmansk, in Northwest Russia to board your ship.