Antarctica: 23 Fascinating Facts About the Frozen Continent
Antarctica is the least explored continent on our planet, and most people believe it's just a land of ice and polar bears. Correct? No, incorrect.
Fascinating Facts About Antarctica:
● Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, highest, and driest continent on Earth.
● The highest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was 14.5°C.
● There are no polar bears in Antarctica (they're only in the Arctic), but there are plenty of penguins.
● The coldest place on Earth is a high ridge in Antarctica, where temperatures have been recorded as low as -93.2°C.
● Some areas of the Dry Valleys of McMurdo (the ice-free part of Antarctica) have seen no rain or snow in the last 2 million years.
● Wind speeds in some places in Antarctica can reach up to 320 km/h.
● Mount Erebus in Antarctica is the southernmost active volcano on Earth.
● Antarctica is the only continent without reptiles.
● The area of Antarctica is larger than Australia by approximately 5.8 million square kilometers.
● The Antarctic ice sheet has been in existence for about 40 million years.
● The average ice thickness is approximately 1.6 km.
● Antarctica has lakes that never freeze due to the heat coming from the Earth's depths.
● There is a Chilean town in Antarctica with a school, hospital, hotel, post office, internet, TV, and mobile phone network.
● Antarctica is the only continent without a time zone.
● Antarctica is a desert. Technically, a desert is a place where less than 254 mm of precipitation falls in a year.
● Approximately 80% of the Earth's freshwater reserves are stored in the Antarctic ice sheet.
● There is a waterfall in Antarctica with water red as blood, explained by the presence of iron that oxidizes upon contact with air.
● In 2000, a massive iceberg broke off from Antarctica, covering an area of 11,000 square kilometers. That's the size of Jamaica!
● Since 1994, the use of sled dogs has been banned on the continent.
● To work in Antarctica, every person must have their wisdom teeth and appendix removed.
● Melting ice in Antarctica has caused a slight shift in gravity.
● Once (over 40 million years ago), Antarctica was as warm as California.
● There are seven Christian churches on the continent.
● A large part of Antarctica is covered in ice, with approximately 1% of the land free from ice cover.
● In 1977, Argentina sent a pregnant woman to Antarctica so that her Argentine-born baby would become the first person born on this harsh continent.
