Scientists from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have recorded the highest winter temperature in the history of regular observations at the coldest point on Earth. Last Tuesday, August 6, at the “Vostok” station in Central Antarctica, the thermometer showed -34.2 °C.
However, the next day the air temperature there adjusted to more familiar values. On Wednesday, August 7, it was already -48.8 °C.
July and August in Central Antarctica are the coldest months of the year. The average long-term temperature in July is -66.6 °C, in August -67.6 °C. It was at the “Vostok” station on July 21, 1983 that the absolute temperature minimum on the planet was recorded: a record -89.2 °C.
“Despite the obvious facts confirming global warming, Antarctica will remain a continent of the lowest possible temperatures for hundreds of years and will be under a powerful ice sheet,” said Aleksandr Makarov, Director of AARI, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “Research in this region is extremely necessary for world science and understanding of the future of our planet. Therefore, we have created a modern research center at the ‘Vostok’ station, where key projects aimed at in-depth study of climate processes will be developed.”
The “Vostok” station is the only year-round Russian intercontinental station in Antarctica. It was founded on December 16, 1957, on the flat snowy surface of a glacial plateau at an altitude of 3,488 m above sea level, 1,460 km from the coast.
The temperatures at the “Vostok” station are the lowest on the planet, so thermometers with a special scale from -100 to +20 °C are used to measure them.
The absolute temperature maximum was recorded at the station on December 16, 1957 – the air at "Vostok" warmed up to -13.6 °C. The average temperature of the summer period is about -36 °C.
During the Antarctic winter, it is almost impossible to get to the station, the average temperature at "Vostok" during this period is about -70 °C. From February to November, the station's employees work autonomously.