WEBVTT - What's the Coldest Place On Earth?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here we all know the type.

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<v Speaker 1>Certain people treat every conversation about weather like it's some

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<v Speaker 1>kind of contest. Maybe their hometown is rainier than yours,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe they've lived through more blizzards. In any case, these

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<v Speaker 1>folks can't resist a little meteorological one upmanship. This got

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<v Speaker 1>the team at how Stuff Works thinking about superlatives. How

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<v Speaker 1>cold can surface of our planet physically get? And what

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<v Speaker 1>is the coldest place on Earth? In July one was

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<v Speaker 1>a day for the record books. One of the most

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<v Speaker 1>remote facilities in all of ant Arctica is a place

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<v Speaker 1>called Vostik Station, run by the Russian government and previously

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S SR. It's located on the East Antarctic

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<v Speaker 1>ice Sheet, just eight hundred miles or about kilometers away

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<v Speaker 1>from the geographic South Pole. On that historic date, the

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<v Speaker 1>researchers working at the station measured the lowest near surface

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<v Speaker 1>air temperature that's ever been recorded, negative a hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>twenty eight point five six degrees fahrenheit or negative eighty

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<v Speaker 1>nine point two degrees celsius. But note that qualifier. We

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<v Speaker 1>specifically said near surface air temperature. That term is about

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<v Speaker 1>to become very important to our discussion for the article.

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<v Speaker 1>This episode is based on how Stuff Works. Spoke by

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<v Speaker 1>email with Ted Scambos, a polar geophysicist based at the

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<v Speaker 1>University of Colorado, Boulder. He explained that near surface air

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<v Speaker 1>temperature is the temperature that the thermometer reads at one

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<v Speaker 1>point five to three meters or about five to ten

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<v Speaker 1>feet above the surface of the Earth. But quote the

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<v Speaker 1>reference height for formal measurements is six ft six inches

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<v Speaker 1>or so, that's two meters above the surface. When you

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<v Speaker 1>go higher or lower the measured temperature, your location may change,

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<v Speaker 1>and surface temperatures are a different beast Altogether, that's the

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<v Speaker 1>actual temperature of the physical surface of the planet, whether

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<v Speaker 1>that's soil, rock, water, or ice. With that in mind,

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<v Speaker 1>let's return to Antarctica. Scambos was the lead author of

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<v Speaker 1>a teen study that reported on ultra low surface temperatures

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<v Speaker 1>in East Antarctica. One of its co authors was one

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<v Speaker 1>Atsuhiro Muto, a geophysicist and polar scientist at Temple University

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<v Speaker 1>who house to Works also spoke with via email. This study,

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<v Speaker 1>which was published as a letter in the journal Geophysical

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<v Speaker 1>Research Letters, describes how Scambos, Mutho and their colleagues used

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<v Speaker 1>satellite sensors to investigate weather patterns on the East Antarctic Plateau.

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<v Speaker 1>The plateau is at the center of the continent and

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<v Speaker 1>is where the geographic south Pole is located, but that's

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<v Speaker 1>not its only attraction. Dome Argus, the highest point of

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<v Speaker 1>elevation in Eastern Antarctica, is also situated on the plateau.

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<v Speaker 1>This icy spot looms over thirteen thousand, four hundred feet

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<v Speaker 1>or four thousand meters above sea level. Four decades artificial satellites,

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<v Speaker 1>including some built and maintained by NASA, have overseen the

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<v Speaker 1>conditions on the East Antarctic Plateau. Scambos, Muto and their

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<v Speaker 1>colleagues went back and reviewed the relevant data gathered by

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<v Speaker 1>these devices during the winters of two thousand four through

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand sixteen. In that time, the satellites observed surface

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<v Speaker 1>temperatures of around negative hundred and thirty eight degrees fahrenheit

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<v Speaker 1>that's negative ninety eight degrees celsius at roughly one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>Shallow depressions on the plateau, all scattered across a broad

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<v Speaker 1>region that includes dome Argus but sits at a higher

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<v Speaker 1>elevation than of Vostok Station. These are the lowest surface

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<v Speaker 1>temperatures ever recorded anywhere on Earth. Muto stresses that because

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<v Speaker 1>the data was collected by Earth observing satellites quote, no

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<v Speaker 1>human being experienced these low temperatures. To my knowledge, the

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<v Speaker 1>lowest temperature recorded by a physical thermometer and experienced by

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<v Speaker 1>humans is still negative eighty nine point two degrees celsius

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<v Speaker 1>at Vostok Station. Every year, the geographic South Pole and

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<v Speaker 1>nearby areas undergo a polar night. That's an extended period

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<v Speaker 1>in which the sun never climbs above the horizon, usually

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<v Speaker 1>in the months of July and August. Those records setting

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<v Speaker 1>plateau temperatures were observed during this dark stretch of the calendar.

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<v Speaker 1>Muto explained the East Antarctic Plateau is so cold because

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<v Speaker 1>of high altitude, and the snow on the surface reflects

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<v Speaker 1>most of the solar energy back about or more to

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<v Speaker 1>the atmosphere. Plus, you have the polar nights during the

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<v Speaker 1>winter when there's no solar energy at all. Also, because

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<v Speaker 1>of the great distance from the coast, you rarely get

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<v Speaker 1>warmer coastal air masses penetrating inland to bring the heat. Obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>This is not an environment for the faint hearted, Scambo said.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a gigantic, white, flat expanse of bitter cold snow.

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<v Speaker 1>The wind is ceaseless, the sky is a deeper blue

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<v Speaker 1>than any place you've seen before. It is an isolated,

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<v Speaker 1>eternal landscape. Yet even there, those record setting surface temperatures

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<v Speaker 1>will only occur under just the right circumstances. Prolonged darkness

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<v Speaker 1>Loan isn't enough to bring the metaphorical thermostat all the

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<v Speaker 1>way down to that low low point. The Scambo says

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<v Speaker 1>that there must also be quote still air, zero clouds,

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<v Speaker 1>incredibly dry atmosphere, and you need to be sitting in

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<v Speaker 1>a swale in the ice surface. A swill is a

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<v Speaker 1>sort of subtle depression in the ice that might be

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of miles across, maybe three kilometers or so,

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<v Speaker 1>but will just be six and a half to ten

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<v Speaker 1>feet deep around two to three meters. Dips and valleys

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<v Speaker 1>in the Antarctic ice sheet trap air that's dense, dry

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<v Speaker 1>and cold, and by South Pole standards, given enough time,

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<v Speaker 1>the trapped air cools down surface level snow along with

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<v Speaker 1>some of the warmer air above it. So there you

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<v Speaker 1>have it. A shallow depressions in a high elevation part

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<v Speaker 1>of the East Antarctic Plateau have the capacity to become

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<v Speaker 1>the coldest places on the face of the Earth during

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<v Speaker 1>their polar winter. The bragging rights have been claimed inform

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<v Speaker 1>your Midwestern relatives. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>What's the coldest place on Earth? On how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Clang. For

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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.