We finally made it here last week, and I apologize for not posting sooner from Antarctica, but I've been busy working and getting settled in since I got here.
So here is the scoop on the highest, driest, coldest, windiest, most desolate place on earth, Antarctica!
The continent of Antarctica is made up of land like any other continent, but about 98% of it is covered in ice and snow, most of it left over from the ice ages that started about 20 million years ago (that is older than your teachers and even your parents and grandparents!) The ice ages also lasted for millions of years, and during that time, the continent became covered in thousands of feet of snow, which turned mostly into ice.
Those of you who live in a snowy place like Colorado may know that snow doesn't just land evenly. After a big snow storm, sometimes there are huge drifts maybe 8 feet high in your yard, and maybe your neighbor only has 6 inches of snow because the wind blows the snow around, or maybe the snow gets stuck on one side of your house and the other side has none, right? If you live in a place that gets snowy in winter, keep an eye out when it snows and see if you notice different levels of snow in different places. Well that kept happening over and over for millions of years in Antarctica, so there are places with more ice or less ice.
Antarctica is the highest of the 7 continents because of the snow. So much snow has been piling up here for so long that it's actually made Antarctica taller! The south pole stands at around 9000 feet!
It's the driest place on earth because there are no rivers or lakes for water to evaporate from, so it never, ever rains and it very rarely snows from the sky (lots of snow blows around though!) Antarctica is actually a desert, if you can believe that, because it's too dry for any plants or trees to grow.
It's the windiest place on earth because the continent is highest in the middle due to that drifting I discussed earlier. The air flows down from the taller middle toward the lower coasts and creates wind. That is a very simplistic explanation, but a good thing to research with your teachers or parents!
Antarctica is the coldest place on earth due these things:
1. Because 98% of Antarctica is covered with snow and ice, the light and heat of the sun are reflected instead of absorbed.
2. Because it's so dry here, there is no moisture in the air, called vapor, to absorb the heat, so it all escapes.
3. During the winter, the size of Antarctica doubles because the ocean actually freezes and blocks heat from the warmer ocean all around the continent.
4. Because Antarctica is so high, it's cold, just like when you are on top of a mountain or in an airplane.
So here is the scoop on the highest, driest, coldest, windiest, most desolate place on earth, Antarctica!
The continent of Antarctica is made up of land like any other continent, but about 98% of it is covered in ice and snow, most of it left over from the ice ages that started about 20 million years ago (that is older than your teachers and even your parents and grandparents!) The ice ages also lasted for millions of years, and during that time, the continent became covered in thousands of feet of snow, which turned mostly into ice.
Those of you who live in a snowy place like Colorado may know that snow doesn't just land evenly. After a big snow storm, sometimes there are huge drifts maybe 8 feet high in your yard, and maybe your neighbor only has 6 inches of snow because the wind blows the snow around, or maybe the snow gets stuck on one side of your house and the other side has none, right? If you live in a place that gets snowy in winter, keep an eye out when it snows and see if you notice different levels of snow in different places. Well that kept happening over and over for millions of years in Antarctica, so there are places with more ice or less ice.
Antarctica is the highest of the 7 continents because of the snow. So much snow has been piling up here for so long that it's actually made Antarctica taller! The south pole stands at around 9000 feet!
It's the driest place on earth because there are no rivers or lakes for water to evaporate from, so it never, ever rains and it very rarely snows from the sky (lots of snow blows around though!) Antarctica is actually a desert, if you can believe that, because it's too dry for any plants or trees to grow.
It's the windiest place on earth because the continent is highest in the middle due to that drifting I discussed earlier. The air flows down from the taller middle toward the lower coasts and creates wind. That is a very simplistic explanation, but a good thing to research with your teachers or parents!
Antarctica is the coldest place on earth due these things:
1. Because 98% of Antarctica is covered with snow and ice, the light and heat of the sun are reflected instead of absorbed.
2. Because it's so dry here, there is no moisture in the air, called vapor, to absorb the heat, so it all escapes.
3. During the winter, the size of Antarctica doubles because the ocean actually freezes and blocks heat from the warmer ocean all around the continent.
4. Because Antarctica is so high, it's cold, just like when you are on top of a mountain or in an airplane.
And finally, Antarctica is the most desolate place on earth because who would want to live here? OK, there are a few of us who keep coming back, but nobody lives here all the time except for the wildlife. And we will get to that subject later on when it gets warm enough for us to see penguins and seals. But as for people not being here, way back when humans and pre-humans were migrating around the planet, the continents were in different places than they are now, but even then Antarctica was different. People were able to get from place to place on land or by sea, except for poor, lonely Antarctica. And even if people got here, they would't have survived for long without food, fuel, and constructions supplies being shlepped in. There is very little to eat, and nobody could survive here without shelter, heat, and lots of supplies, which are flown in by huge airplanes and also brought in on boats. I will talk about that in February though.
Poor Antarctica doesn't stand a chance of ever being like all of the other continents, but it's very important to the rest of the earth that it stays cold here!
Today it's -18 degrees, but I have lots of layers on, so I'm actually quite warm!
What is the temperature where you are? Do you have any questions so far?
Here is a nice picture of McMurdo Station, our little town, with the frozen ocean and then some beautiful
mountains in the background. Enjoy!
