How cold is it?

Casey station expeditioner with ice on clothes and beard
Casey station expeditioner with ice on clothes and beard (Photo Craig Butsch)
Casey station expeditioner with ice on clothes and beardArriving at Cape Poinsett Navigating a safe passage across the tide crackParticipating in the midwinter swim

Antarctica is the coldest continent on earth. The farther from the coast one goes the higher and colder it becomes. In most coastal regions the mean annual temperature is around -12 degrees C, at 1,000m -20 degrees C, and in the highest parts near 4,000m it falls to -60 degrees C. The lowest surface temperature ever recorded in nature was -89 degrees C at the Russian Vostok station, within the Australian Antarctic Territory.

This page was last modified on June 30, 2011.