Welcome To The Frozen Realm Of Antarctica
From massive icebergs to wildlife, you will never be in short supply of beautiful vistas in Antarctica.
Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Facts About Antarctica
The name Antarctica came from the Greek word meaning “ opposite to the north”.
It lies in the Southern hemisphere thereby the seasons are the opposite seasons in the North- summer runs from October to February and winter covers the entire remainder of the year. It is the fifth largest continent. Area 13,828,430 km 2 (58 times bigger than the UK, 1.4 times bigger than the USA, and 1.8 times bigger than Australia).
Antarctica has a climate of extremes. The so-called, Catabian- winds can cause violent snowstorms that can last for days, and sometimes, even weeks.
Four factors rule in Antarctica- coldest windiest, highest and driest continent on the planet. Antarctica holds the world's record for all these three things. -89.2 was the coldest ever day in Antarctica on July 21, 1983 Average winter temperature at South Pole : -60C / -76 F The highest temperature recorded in Antarctica is 58.2 F (14.5C).
Mawson station is the windiest place on earth: Average wind speed 37 kmh / 23 mph Maximum recorded gust : 248.4 kmh/154 mph.
It is the driest place on earth, it is almost dessert entirely. With such low humidity and moisture, even snow and ice cannot accumulate leaving the valley with a dusty expanse of dirt. Some parts of Antarctica have had no rain or snow for the last 2 million years.
It is also on average the windiest place on Earth.
One of the great things about Antarctica is witnessing nature at its most raw and natural form.
99% of Antarctica is covered by ice. Less than 1 % is permanently ice- free. In the winter, Antarctica doubles in size due to the sea ice that forms around the coast The sea ice grows at the rate of 40,000 square miles a day.
The Antarctic Ice sheet the single biggest ice mass in the world and can be up to four miles thick. The ice flows off the continent and creates floating ice shelves over the ocean, these shelves break up and create icebergs.
Largest Ice Shelf - Ross ice Shelf (About the size of France).
It has 70 % of the world's fresh water frozen as ice and 90% of the world's freshwater ice.
There are a few places more beautiful than the world’s southernmost continent. The landscape is stunningly diverse, with views of untouched snow.
Sea levels would rise around 60 m or 200 feet, if all if all the ice in Antarctica were to melt.
Its existence was completely unknown util 1820.
The first man to reach the South Pole is Norwegian explorer Ronald Amundsen on Dec. 14, 1911.
There used to be a nuclear power station in Antarctica.
Antarctica is home to 7 penguin species, 4 of these live and nest on and around the Antarctic continent and a further 3 live and nest on Antarctic and Sub Antarctic islands.
Emilio Marco Plama was the first child born in Antarctica on January 1979. Since then there were ten other people born on the continent.
There are no permanent residents and never has been a native population. There are no countries in Antarctica. It is governed by an international treaty called the Antarctic Treaty.
About 4,000 live there on scientific bases in the short summer, 1,000 total in the winter and around 30,000-40,000 summer tourists. While it features harsh living conditions , a number of plants and animals have adapted and survived and call the icy continent home. Well known animals that live in Antarctica are penguins and seals.
Antarctica offers a breathtaking visual experience with its unique and stunning scenery such as the glaciers ice formation.
Comments:
Fantastic. Thanks. Miss u guys. We have not been there. From chuck ARELLA, on Feb 8, 2017 at 05:45PM
