Have you ever wondered where is the coldest place on earth? To be honest, I did too until a certain time. And recently, having started complaining to a friend about, as it seemed to me, a cold at -8 ° C, I suddenly realized that the person listening to me so sympathetically on the other end of the telephone wire actually lives in Urengoy, which means that they and calendar summer temperatures are lower.
That's when I wanted to know where the coldest place in the world is.
As it turned out, there are several such points on the globe, and in most of them not a single living creature can last longer than a week, and even more so a person unprepared for such natural conditions.
- The absolute champion can safely be considered the coldest place on earth called the Russian Station Vostok, located in Antarctica. This research point is geographicallylocated in the vicinity of the geomagnetic pole (south). The height above sea level is approximately 3500 meters. Severe cold here is a common thing, however, on July 21, 1983, the absolute record of the planet was recorded, amounting to -89.2 ° C. What do scientists do in such a cold? They study the local climate and nature, in particular, one of the largest lakes of the same name. A characteristic feature of this reservoir is that it is bound by 4 km of ice.
- In second place in the "Coldest Place on Earth" rating is again Russia, but now this point is located directly on the territory of the state itself. This is the tiny village of Oymyakon (Republic of Yakutia). The record low temperature on the planet was recorded here quite a long time ago, at the beginning of the last century. In honor of this, a memorial plaque was even installed in the village, on which it is written in memory of descendants that in 1926 it was here that the lowest temperature in the entire northern hemisphere was. And it was -71, 2 ° С.
- Let's change the continent by moving to North America… As you know from the school geography course, the lowest place on earth, or rather, one of them, is in the USA and has a rather ominous name of Death Valley. Oddly enough, but this country also occupies a leading position in the list of so-called natural “freezers”. The highest point of the mainland, six-thousander McKinley, is also the coldest mountain on the planet. In winter, the air temperature sometimes reaches -40 ° C.
- Another research station, now owned by Canada, can be proud of its location. The thing is that Eureka is another coldest place on earth. But that's not all. Of course, it's hard to imagine, but here, not far from the island of Ellesmere, people constantly live and this so-called settlement is even marked on a geographical map. Local residents work, serving the meteorological station created in the middle of the last century. The official average annual air temperature on Eureka is -20 ° C. In winter, the column of the most modern thermometer often drops to -40 ° C. And, nevertheless, many people strive to visit here. It can be said that there is no end to tourists and visitors. Anyone who can afford to pay about $20,000 for a flight has a chance to visit the weather station.
