Where in the WORLD is Antarctica, and why is it such a special place?
Here are some interesting facts about Antarctica:
- Most of the Antarctic continent is south of the Antarctic Circle.
- It has a total area of 14 MILLION sq km (est.) (no kidding!) which is just a bit less than 1.5 times the size of the US.
- Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest, windiest, most remote place on the planet. But the weather is not the only environmental danger there. Because of the now well-documented depletion of the ozone layer, during summer more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than is received at the Equator.
- East Antarctica is colder than West Antarctica because of its higher elevation, while the Antarctic Peninsula has the most moderate climate. Its highest temperatures occur in January along the coast and average slightly below freezing.
- I worked for the Antarctic Fire Department at McMurdo Base, on Ross Island, where the temperature can range between -120 degrees (that's right, one-hundred-twenty degrees BELOW zero) and +40 degrees (above zero).
- The overall terrain of Antarctica is about 98% thick continental ice sheet and 2% barren rock, with average elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 meters.
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