1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:11,320 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here we all know the type. 3 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Certain people treat every conversation about weather like it's some 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: kind of contest. Maybe their hometown is rainier than yours, 5 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: maybe they've lived through more blizzards. In any case, these 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: folks can't resist a little meteorological one upmanship. This got 7 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: the team at how Stuff Works thinking about superlatives. How 8 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: cold can surface of our planet physically get? And what 9 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: is the coldest place on Earth? In July one was 10 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: a day for the record books. One of the most 11 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: remote facilities in all of ant Arctica is a place 12 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: called Vostik Station, run by the Russian government and previously 13 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: the U. S SR. It's located on the East Antarctic 14 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: ice Sheet, just eight hundred miles or about kilometers away 15 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: from the geographic South Pole. On that historic date, the 16 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: researchers working at the station measured the lowest near surface 17 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: air temperature that's ever been recorded, negative a hundred and 18 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: twenty eight point five six degrees fahrenheit or negative eighty 19 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: nine point two degrees celsius. But note that qualifier. We 20 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: specifically said near surface air temperature. That term is about 21 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: to become very important to our discussion for the article. 22 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: This episode is based on how Stuff Works. Spoke by 23 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: email with Ted Scambos, a polar geophysicist based at the 24 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,119 Speaker 1: University of Colorado, Boulder. He explained that near surface air 25 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: temperature is the temperature that the thermometer reads at one 26 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: point five to three meters or about five to ten 27 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: feet above the surface of the Earth. But quote the 28 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,559 Speaker 1: reference height for formal measurements is six ft six inches 29 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: or so, that's two meters above the surface. When you 30 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: go higher or lower the measured temperature, your location may change, 31 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: and surface temperatures are a different beast Altogether, that's the 32 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: actual temperature of the physical surface of the planet, whether 33 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: that's soil, rock, water, or ice. With that in mind, 34 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: let's return to Antarctica. Scambos was the lead author of 35 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: a teen study that reported on ultra low surface temperatures 36 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 1: in East Antarctica. One of its co authors was one 37 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: Atsuhiro Muto, a geophysicist and polar scientist at Temple University 38 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: who house to Works also spoke with via email. This study, 39 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,359 Speaker 1: which was published as a letter in the journal Geophysical 40 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: Research Letters, describes how Scambos, Mutho and their colleagues used 41 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: satellite sensors to investigate weather patterns on the East Antarctic Plateau. 42 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: The plateau is at the center of the continent and 43 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: is where the geographic south Pole is located, but that's 44 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: not its only attraction. Dome Argus, the highest point of 45 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: elevation in Eastern Antarctica, is also situated on the plateau. 46 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,959 Speaker 1: This icy spot looms over thirteen thousand, four hundred feet 47 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: or four thousand meters above sea level. Four decades artificial satellites, 48 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: including some built and maintained by NASA, have overseen the 49 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: conditions on the East Antarctic Plateau. Scambos, Muto and their 50 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: colleagues went back and reviewed the relevant data gathered by 51 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: these devices during the winters of two thousand four through 52 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: two thousand sixteen. In that time, the satellites observed surface 53 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: temperatures of around negative hundred and thirty eight degrees fahrenheit 54 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: that's negative ninety eight degrees celsius at roughly one hundred 55 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: Shallow depressions on the plateau, all scattered across a broad 56 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: region that includes dome Argus but sits at a higher 57 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: elevation than of Vostok Station. These are the lowest surface 58 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: temperatures ever recorded anywhere on Earth. Muto stresses that because 59 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: the data was collected by Earth observing satellites quote, no 60 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: human being experienced these low temperatures. To my knowledge, the 61 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: lowest temperature recorded by a physical thermometer and experienced by 62 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: humans is still negative eighty nine point two degrees celsius 63 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: at Vostok Station. Every year, the geographic South Pole and 64 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: nearby areas undergo a polar night. That's an extended period 65 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: in which the sun never climbs above the horizon, usually 66 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: in the months of July and August. Those records setting 67 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: plateau temperatures were observed during this dark stretch of the calendar. 68 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 1: Muto explained the East Antarctic Plateau is so cold because 69 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: of high altitude, and the snow on the surface reflects 70 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: most of the solar energy back about or more to 71 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: the atmosphere. Plus, you have the polar nights during the 72 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: winter when there's no solar energy at all. Also, because 73 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: of the great distance from the coast, you rarely get 74 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: warmer coastal air masses penetrating inland to bring the heat. Obviously, 75 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 1: This is not an environment for the faint hearted, Scambo said. 76 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: It is a gigantic, white, flat expanse of bitter cold snow. 77 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,679 Speaker 1: The wind is ceaseless, the sky is a deeper blue 78 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: than any place you've seen before. It is an isolated, 79 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: eternal landscape. Yet even there, those record setting surface temperatures 80 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: will only occur under just the right circumstances. Prolonged darkness 81 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: Loan isn't enough to bring the metaphorical thermostat all the 82 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: way down to that low low point. The Scambo says 83 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:36,039 Speaker 1: that there must also be quote still air, zero clouds, 84 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: incredibly dry atmosphere, and you need to be sitting in 85 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: a swale in the ice surface. A swill is a 86 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: sort of subtle depression in the ice that might be 87 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: a couple of miles across, maybe three kilometers or so, 88 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: but will just be six and a half to ten 89 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: feet deep around two to three meters. Dips and valleys 90 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: in the Antarctic ice sheet trap air that's dense, dry 91 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: and cold, and by South Pole standards, given enough time, 92 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: the trapped air cools down surface level snow along with 93 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: some of the warmer air above it. So there you 94 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: have it. A shallow depressions in a high elevation part 95 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: of the East Antarctic Plateau have the capacity to become 96 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: the coldest places on the face of the Earth during 97 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: their polar winter. The bragging rights have been claimed inform 98 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 1: your Midwestern relatives. Today's episode is based on the article 99 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: What's the coldest place on Earth? On how stuff works 100 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: dot com written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production 101 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 1: of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works 102 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Clang. For 103 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, 104 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.