FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT ANTARCTICA
Antarctica is unique among all other places on the planet. Did you know Antarctica is the tallest, windiest, and driest continent in the world? These are just a few fascinating facts about Antarctica.
Antarctica is, without a doubt, a region of extremes and one of the fascinating continents. It is a place with no permanent inhabitants, and it experiences harsh weather conditions. This is before you think about the incredible marine life in the chilly waters.
It will be an unforgettable journey from the vast frozen desert to tr. You can follow in the footsteps Ernest Shackleton’s footsteps. Many fascinating facts are available about Antarctica. Continue reading to learn all about Antarctica.
Here are some fun facts about Antarctica
An affordable and more accessible way to visit Antarctica has become increasingly popular. More than 56,000 people visited Antarctica in the 2018-2019 season. This is 53% more than in 2014.
Antarctica Is a Desert
With all the freshwater in Antarctica’s ice sheet, how could Antarctica become a desert? This is one of Antarctica’s most fascinating facts! People associate deserts with scorching heat and dunes. However, a desert doesn’t have to be dry and sandy. The amount of precipitation that falls in the region in the form of rain, fog, snow, or mist gives a desert its name. A desert is an area that receives very little or no annual precipitation.
However, over the past 30 years, the South Pole’s average annual rainfall has been slightly more than 10 mm, or 0.4 inches. Although the precipitation is higher on the shore, Antarctica is still a polar desert because the average rainfall across the continent is deficient.
It is, therefore, not surprising that Antarctica has a lot of ice. However, it took 45 million years to reach its current thickness due to the absence of rain. Antarctica, also a desert is one of the windiest and highest-altitude places on Earth.
Antarctica is the largest holder of freshwater on the planet.
Current Antarctic ice contains 90% of the world’s ice capacity and 70% of its freshwater. If all the ice were to melt, it would provide enough water to raise Earth’s sea level by 200 feet!
The Antarctica ice sheet is the largest in the world. It covers 14,000,000 square kilometers or 5.4 Million square miles. It includes all mountain ranges, ravines, and plateaus of Antarctica.
Only 1% is ice-free in Antarctica. The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the ice-free areas. The summer in Antarctica is from December through March.
Antarctica’s thickest ice sheet is 4.5km or 2.7 miles. This is about half the height of Mt. Everest! The sea level would rise 60 m/200 ft if Antarctica’s thickest glacier melted.
Antarctica was Not Always an Icy Continent
Antarctica was only sometimes solidly frozen. For nearly 100 million years, the continent rested above the south pole and didn’t freeze over. The climate then changed dramatically around 34 million years ago.
The warm greenhouse climate conditions had been stable since the dinosaur extinction abruptly dropped. This created an “ice-house at the poles” that has remained constant.
Antarctica is the coldest land area in the world. It was measured by Russia’s Vostok station in July 1983 at -89.2degC (-128.6degF). It isn’t easy to believe that once upon a time, the continent was a warm, subtropical paradise.
Researchers claim that Antarctica’s temperatures reached 17 degrees Celsius (62.6 degrees Fahrenheit) around 40-50 million years ago. Scientists also found fossils that show Antarctica was once covered in lush forests, which were home to dinosaurs.
Discovery of Antarctica
The first discovery in Antarctica was made towards the end of January 1820. This was achieved by two Russian ships, the Vostok and Mirnyi. It took them two years to complete this expedition around the globe. Both ships were under Captain Fabien Gottlieb Von Bellingshausen’s command on a mission of discovery for the Russian Empire.
Antarctica has no time zone.
Here are some Antarctica facts that might surprise you. The issue of time in Antarctica is complex. Primarily uninhabited Antarctica is not divided into any time zones. The South Pole is the point where all of Earth’s longitudes meet. The longitude lines give us different time zones around Earth. This means that any time zone can theoretically work there.
However, a few research camps keep their own local time. Some stations follow the time zone of the country that supplies them with power or food, while others follow the times from nearby countries.
Antarctica has six months of continuous daylight in summer and six months of darkness in winter. Time becomes strange without the traditional markers for day or night. Travelers, however, tend to stay in the time zone at the port of their destination country.
Everywhere is North
If you are standing at the South Pole, you will be at the southernmost point of the planet. It doesn’t matter how you look or face the world. It all points toward the north.
It is unclear why we refer to the Antarctic Peninsula in West Antarctica while the Antarctic Peninsula is called East Antarctica. This is the base of it. It is an imaginary line that runs through Greenwich, from the north pole towards the south pole. If you stand at the South Pole and face Greenwich, everything to your left and your right is west.
Antarctica is the world’s fastest-warming region.
The Antarctic Peninsula is warming faster than other parts of the globe. Over the past 50 years, the Antarctic Peninsula’s west coast has been one of the most rapidly-warming areas on the planet. The Antarctic Peninsula has seen temperatures rise by 3 degrees Celsius!