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
There are ocean currents under the ice in the arctic which mixes the cold water in the Arctic ocean with warmer water from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However the South Pole is located in the continent of Antarctica. And even though there are huge fjords and islands the glaciers displaces all the sea water forming a thick layer of ice all the way out to sea. So there are no ocean currents mixing the water on the continent with the water in the oceans.
Another factor is that the ice cap on Antarctica is pretty tall making an artificial platau of ice that only a few mountains stick out of. This means that even though the Amundsen-Scott station is near what would have been coastline in a fjord if it was not for the ice the station is still at an elevation of about 2800m and dropping. Higher elevations means lower pressures which means lower temperatures.
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