coldest place on earth

Scientists already knew that the lowest temperatures ever measured on Earth were on a frozen ice ridge in East Antarctica, near the South Pole. But they recently discovered that temperatures there can drop even lower than those previously measured.

In 2013, analysis of satellite data identified scattered pockets of intensely cold air on the East Antarctic plateau between Argos Dome and Dom Fuji - temperatures that dropped as low as 135 degrees Fahrenheit (zero 93 degrees Celsius).

However, a new analysis of the same data suggests that under the right conditions, these temperatures can drop to nearly 148 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 100 degrees Celsius), which is likely the coldest temperature that can reach Earth, according to researchers at New study.

In the ice-covered Antarctica, the average temperature during the gloomy winter months is around minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34.4 degrees Celsius). For the new study, scientists analyzed data collected during July and August between 2004 and 2016. Temperatures were measured in small basins of the East Antarctic Plateau near the South Pole, at an altitude of 12 feet (467 metres). The study authors reported that the new record-breaking temperatures were widespread, appearing in 3 locations in the scattered depressions, a "wide area" of the plateau.

During the polar winter, there are long stretches of time with clear skies and weak winds. Together - as long as these conditions persist - they could cool the surface of the snow and lower temperatures, according to the study.

In 2013 and in the new study, researchers calibrated the same surface temperature satellite measurements with data collected from weather stations on the surface of Antarctica. For the new analysis, the researchers took a fresh look at surface weather data. This time around, they also studied atmospheric dryness, as drier air makes snow cover lose heat more quickly, says study lead author Ted Schampos, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder.

With this update, they have recalibrated the satellite data and obtained a more accurate measure of bone-chilling temperatures in those pockets near the South Pole. The study found that the same patches on the plateau that were previously known to be the coldest on Earth were still colder — only more than that, by about 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius).

The new record low temperature will likely be as cold as it could hit Earth. “It has to be very cold and very dry for several days for such challenging levels to emerge,” Scampos explained.

“There is a limit to how long conditions last to allow it to cool to very low temperatures, and the maximum amount of heat you can actually get through the atmosphere, because water vapor has to be almost nonexistent in order to release the heat. from the surface at these temperatures,”