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Earth hits lowest recorded temperature in over a decade
geekspin.co • • science
Key Points:
- On July 18, Antarctica’s Concordia station recorded a temperature of –119.4°F twice in the morning, marking the coldest official ground temperature in 14 years.
- Concordia, located on the East Antarctic plateau at 10,800 feet elevation, typically experiences extreme cold winters with temperatures often below –112°F.
- The station is highly isolated during winter, with no flights in or out and the nearest human outpost over 370 miles away, making it more remote than the International Space Station.
- While Concordia endures extreme cold, other parts of Antarctica, such as Argentina’s Esperanza base, recently recorded unusually warm temperatures, highlighting significant regional climate variation.
- Historic cold records remain from other stations, such as Vostok’s –128.6°F in 1983, and satellite data suggests even colder temperatures are possible in certain Antarctic ice sheet areas.
