Portal:Antarctica

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Antarctica

A satellite composite image of Antarctica

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, overlying the South Pole. It is situated in the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14.4 million km² (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. Some 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages at least 1.6 kilometers (1.0 mi) in thickness.

On average, Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Since there is little precipitation, except at the coasts, the interior of the continent is technically the largest desert in the world. There are no permanent human residents and there is no evidence of any existing or pre-historic indigenous population. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, fur seals, mosses, lichen, and many types of algae.

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Mount Erebus on Ross Island. Credit: USGS
The climate of Antarctica is the coldest climate on Earth. It is colder than that of the Arctic regions because of the elevation, continental influence, and the fact that the Antarctic winter currently occurs when the Earth is just past its aphelion. The Antarctic climate is also extremely dry, with an average of only 166 mm (42.2 in.) of precipitation per year; however, on most parts of the continent, the snow never melts and is eventually compressed to become the glacial ice that makes up the ice sheet. The lowest natural temperature recorded on the continent (and consequently on Earth) was −89.2°C (−128.6°F), recorded on Thursday, July 21, 1983, at Vostok Station. The highest recorded natural temperature on the continent was 14.6°C (58.3°F) in two places, Hope Bay and Vanda Station, on January 5, 1974. The mean annual temperature of the continental interior is −57°C (−70°F), but the coast is warmer on average. In fact, McMurdo Station on Ross Island experiences a summer daytime average temperature of −3°C (26.6°F). The continent's unique location and its ice sheet are of ongoing interest to science that is engaged in climatology and global warming studies.
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Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), Ross Ice Shelf, Cape Washington, Antarctica
Credit: User:Dbush

The Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The species breeds in the coldest environment of any bird species; air temperatures may reach −40 °C (−40 °F), and wind speeds may reach 144 km/h (89 mph). Water temperature is a frigid −1.8 °C (30 °F).

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Airports in Antarctica • Antarctic territorial claims • Antarctica Agreements • Antarctica geography stubs • British Antarctic Territory • Bulgaria in Antarctica • Churches in Antarctica • Exploration of Antarctica • Explorers of Antarctica • Fauna of Antarctica • Flora of Antarctica • Geography of Antarctica • Glaciers of Antarctica • Headlands of Antarctica • History of Antarctica • Ice shelves • Indian Antarctic Program • Maps of Antarctica • Maps of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands • Natural history of Antarctica • New Zealand and the Antarctic • Norwegian Antarctic Territory • Old maps of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands • Operation Deep Freeze • Outposts of Antarctica • People of Antarctica • Ross Dependency • Science research in Antarctica • South African National Antarctic Programme • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands • South Shetland Islands • Transport in Antarctica
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