So, Antarctica is basically a horrific wasteland where it regularly reaches minus 70 degrees Celsius and where nothing can live except some penguins on the northern sealine. In contrast, the Arctic is pretty cold, at around minus 40. But 30 degrees is a massive difference, and they both get the same amount of sunlight.
So why is the coldest part of Antarctica so much colder than the coldest part of the Arctic?
In: Earth Science
Two things i know of:
– North pole sits on water. Water is a great heat buffer (heats up in summer and gives off heat in winter) and conductor (streams like the gulf stream transport warm water to the pole). South pole sits on land.
– the south pole is a mountain-plateau (e.g. the geographic south pole is at an elevation of ~2800m). At that height things would be pretty cold even in temperate regions.
Might be more reasons ofc.
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