Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: Which is colder North Pole or South Pole?
During the southern winter (March–September), the South Pole receives no sunlight at all, and from May 11 to August 1, between extended periods of twilight, it is completely dark (apart from moonlight). In the summer (September–March), the sun is continuously above the horizon and appears to move in a counter-clockwise circle. However, it is always low in the sky, reaching a maximum of 23.5° in December. Much of the sunlight that does reach the surface is reflected by the white snow. This lack of warmth from the sun, combined with the high altitude (about ), means that the South Pole has one of the coldest climates on Earth (though it is not quite the coldest; that record goes to the region in the vicinity of the Vostok Station, also in Antarctica, which lies at a higher elevation). Temperatures at the South Pole are much lower than at the North Pole, primarily because the South Pole is located at altitude in the middle of a continental land mass, while the North Pole is at sea level in the middle of an ocean, which acts as a reservoir of heat.
Ice cap climate is the world's coldest climate, and includes the coldest places on Earth. With an average temperature of , Vostok, Antarctica is the coldest place in the world, and has also recorded the lowest temperature, . The following chart indicates the average and record temperatures in this research station through a year:
Vostok Station has an ice cap climate ("EF"), with subzero temperatures year round, typical as with much of Antarctica. Annual precipitation is only (all occurring as snow), making it one of the driest places on Earth. On average, Vostok station receives 26 days of snow per year. Average summer temperature is and average winter temperature is . It is one of the coldest spots on earth, with the lowest recorded temperature being .
The lunar south pole is of special interest to scientists because of the occurrence of water ice in permanently shadowed areas around it. Of the lunar poles, the south pole is of greater interest because the area that remains in shadow is much larger than that at the north pole. The lunar south pole craters are unique in that sunlight does not reach the bottom. Such craters are cold traps that contain a fossil record of the early Solar System.
Of official weather stations which are currently in operation, Vostok is the coldest on earth in terms of mean annual temperature. However, it has been disputed that Vostok Station is the coldest known location on earth. The now inactive Plateau Station, located on the central Antarctic plateau, is believed to have recorded an average yearly temperature that was consistently lower than that of Vostok Station during the 37-month period that it was active in the late 1960s, and satellite readings have routinely detected colder temperatures in areas between Dome A and Dome F.
Throughout the year, the South Pacific High influences the climate by bringing cold, moist air masses originating from Patagonia. During the most intense cold waves, they form when a transient high pressure system located in the South Pacific Ocean moves eastwards to the southern tip of South America. As it begins to move, this high pressure system strengthens the South Pacific High and is forced to move southwards to south of 40S where the Andes are shorter in height. As well, an upper level ridge forms over the South Pacific Ocean along with an upper level trough extending from subtropical latitudes to the South Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, a low pressure system forms over the South Atlantic Ocean which eventually strengthens. The formation a cold front associated with it moves to the northeast owing to the topographic barrier that the Andes forms. The passage of the cold front to the northeast leads to the movement of the high pressure system from the South Pacific Ocean into the southern tip of South America. All of these conditions lead to strong anticyclogenesis to the east of the Andes and thus, the high pressure system intensifies as it enters southern Argentina. When both the high pressure system (over southern Argentina) and low pressure system strengthen, it creates a very strong pressure gradient that draws cold air from the south, strengthening southerly winds. Owing to the topographic barrier of the Andes, it forces and channels the cold air to accumulate on the eastern side of the Andes. This generates an ageostropic component from the south (due to a reduction in the Coriolis force caused by accumulation of cold air on the eastern side of the Andes) that draw this cold air northwards, which is driven by this pressure gradient. Cold air can move northwards until 18S when the blocking effect of the Andes is smaller due to a change in its orientation. Overall, these conditions results in the coldest temperatures due to the cold masses from high latitudes being pulled northwards. A weaker cold wave occurs when the South Pacific High remains over the ocean and does not have a migratory high pressure system originating from the South Pacific High that moves east of the Andes (it builds over the Andes). Although this occurs throughout the year, during winters, it leads to cold temperatures while during summer, it leads to strong and deep convections. These convections are responsible for about 50% of summer precipitation south of 25S.
Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Most of Antarctica is a polar desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) (or even −94.7 °C (−135.8 °F) as measured from space), though the average for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) is −63 °C (−81 °F). Anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at research stations scattered across the continent. Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, and certain animals, such as mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra.
The geography of Antarctica is dominated by its south polar location and, thus, by ice. The Antarctic continent, located in the Earth's southern hemisphere, is centered asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle. It is washed by the Southern (or Antarctic) Ocean or, depending on definition, the southern Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. It has an area of more than 14 million km².
Mark Wood (born 1966) is a British adventurer and explorer who, in 2011 / 2012, made an attempt to be the first person in history to ski solo to both the South and North Poles. He undertook the expedition to raise awareness of climate change, setting off on his trek in November 2011 from the West coast of Antarctica (Hercules Inlet). After reaching the South Pole in January 2012, he continued his journey across 2 degrees of the Arctic Ocean. Crossing the North pole and continuing to the Russian Ice Station. The expedition was unfortunately cut short due to extra funding required by the Canadian airline company who pick explorers up from expeditions on the Arctic Ocean. Mark's attempt was continued to the North Geographic pole to extend the schools programme - "My Life In a Freezer" which reached over 40 countries around the globe. Mark completed the 6 month solo expedition called The North South Solo expedition in April 2012.
Antarctica ( or , ) is Earth's southernmost continent. It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At , it is the fifth-largest continent. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages in thickness, which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.
The area is extremely cold during the winter. The town of Oymyakon, approximately 100 km from the highway, is believed to be the coldest inhabited place on earth. The average temperature in Oymyakon in January is −50 °C.
The southern polar region has no permanent human habitation. McMurdo Station is the largest research station in Antarctica, run by the United States. Other notable stations include Palmer Station and Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station (United States), Esperanza Base and Marambio Base (Argentina), Scott Base (New Zealand), and Vostok Station (Russia).
Based on the New York Times best-selling book Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole, the movie tells the story of how, in 1999, 46-year-old physician Nielsen decides to leave Ohio and spend a year at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Antarctica, one of the most remote and perilous places on Earth. Conditions at the station will be far from manageable, with winter temperatures as low as 100 degrees below zero. Joining a team of researchers, construction workers and support staff, Dr. Nielsen is solely responsible for the mental and physical health of all fellow inhabitants stranded at the station through the winter. During the long Antarctic winter, Dr. Nielsen discovers a lump in her breast and is forced to self-administer a biopsy. Communicating via e-mail with doctors in the United States, she learns that the cancer is aggressive and rapid-growing. In order for her to survive several months until conditions will allow planes to land and rescue her from the continent, the doctors concur that she will need to begin chemotherapy treatments immediately.
Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from the Earth's interior out into space, where it meets the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. Its magnitude at the Earth's surface ranges from 25 to 65 microteslas (0.25 to 0.65 gauss). Approximately, it is the field of a magnetic dipole currently tilted at an angle of about 11 degrees with respect to Earth's rotational axis, as if there were a bar magnet placed at that angle at the center of the Earth. The North geomagnetic pole, located near Greenland in the northern hemisphere, is actually the south pole of the Earth's magnetic field, and the South geomagnetic pole is the north pole. The magnetic field is generated by electric currents due to the motion of convection currents of molten iron in the Earth's outer core driven by heat escaping from the core, a natural process called a geodynamo.
Several years later, the Norwegian Captain Roald Amundsen and the Englishman Captain Robert Scott raced to become the first to reach the South Pole. Both expeditions started almost simultaneously but it was Amundsen who reached the pole first on December 14, 1911. Both men carried Tabloid outfits with them.
The first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He and four others arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911, five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott as part of the Terra Nova Expedition. Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and later knew that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey.
Positioned asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica is the southernmost continent and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean; alternatively, it may be considered to be surrounded by the southern Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, or by the southern waters of the World Ocean. There are a number of rivers and lakes in Antarctica, the longest river being the Onyx. The largest lake, Vostok, is one of the largest sub-glacial lakes in the world. Antarctica covers more than , making it the fifth-largest continent, about 1.3 times as large as Europe. The coastline measures and is mostly characterised by ice formations, as the following table shows:
The next reliable measurement was made during the 1957 season at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica, yielding on May 11 and on September 17. A subsequent measurement of , on August 24, 1960, held the record until a temperature of was measured at the Soviet Vostok Station, on the Antarctic Plateau, on July 21, 1983. This remains the record for a directly recorded temperature.
Some of Antarctica has been warming up; particularly strong warming has been noted on the Antarctic Peninsula. A study by Eric Steig published in 2009 noted for the first time that the continent-wide average surface temperature trend of Antarctica is slightly positive at >0.05 °C (0.09 °F) per decade from 1957 to 2006. This study also noted that West Antarctica has warmed by more than 0.1 °C (0.2 °F) per decade in the last 50 years, and this warming is strongest in winter and spring. This is partly offset by autumn cooling in East Antarctica. There is evidence from one study that Antarctica is warming as a result of human carbon dioxide emissions, but this remains ambiguous. The amount of surface warming in West Antarctica, while large, has not led to appreciable melting at the surface, and is not directly affecting the West Antarctic Ice Sheet's contribution to sea level. Instead the recent increases in glacier outflow are believed to be due to an inflow of warm water from the deep ocean, just off the continental shelf. The net contribution to sea level from the Antarctic Peninsula is more likely to be a direct result of the much greater atmospheric warming there.
One result of this axis orientation is that, averaged over the Uranian year, the polar regions of Uranus receive a greater energy input from the Sun than its equatorial regions. Nevertheless, Uranus is hotter at its equator than at its poles. The underlying mechanism that causes this is unknown. The reason for Uranus's unusual axial tilt is also not known with certainty, but the usual speculation is that during the formation of the Solar System, an Earth-sized protoplanet collided with Uranus, causing the skewed orientation. Uranus's south pole was pointed almost directly at the Sun at the time of Voyager 2's flyby in 1986. The labelling of this pole as "south" uses the definition currently endorsed by the International Astronomical Union, namely that the north pole of a planet or satellite is the pole that points above the invariable plane of the Solar System, regardless of the direction the planet is spinning. A different convention is sometimes used, in which a body's north and south poles are defined according to the right-hand rule in relation to the direction of rotation.
Korf has a subarctic climate (Köppen "Dfc"), though owing to its maritime location the winters are not so severe as at the same latitude in the interior. For instance, the mean temperature of the coldest month is as much as less severe than in Olyokminsk at the same latitude near the Pole of Cold. Precipitation also shows the pronounced maritime influence, with annual averages being typical of Kamchatka and around three or four times those of the interior at the same latitude. The heavier snow cover and milder winter temperatures mean that in spite of the mean temperature of the warmest month not reaching beyond , permafrost is only discontinuous. Strong winds, however, limit tree growth severely.
In 2007, it was discovered that the upper troposphere of Neptune's south pole was about 10 K warmer than the rest of its atmosphere, which averages approximately . The temperature differential is enough to let methane, which elsewhere is frozen in the troposphere, escape into the stratosphere near the pole. The relative "hot spot" is due to Neptune's axial tilt, which has exposed the south pole to the Sun for the last quarter of Neptune's year, or roughly 40 Earth years. As Neptune slowly moves towards the opposite side of the Sun, the south pole will be darkened and the north pole illuminated, causing the methane release to shift to the north pole.
Pomerantz saw the potential of the South Pole as an observing platform remarkably early. Its proximity to the South magnetic pole of the Earth means that charged cosmic rays can be detected there without the deflections they experience when detected at lower latitudes. Astronomical observations near the Earth's poles can be done over long periods, without the diurnal variations at lower latitudes. The South Pole is at an altitude of nearly , so the astronomical seeing should be comparable to other high-altitude observatories; the extreme cold in Antarctica also corresponds to relatively little water vapor in the atmosphere there, which is a particular advantage for infrared astronomy. Finally, the South Pole lies at the top of a very deep, nearly permanent ice sheet that has been used to advantage in experiments such as the IceCube Neutrino Detector.
While the South Pole lies on a continental land mass, the North Pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean amid waters that are almost permanently covered with constantly shifting sea ice. This makes it impractical to construct a permanent station at the North Pole (unlike the South Pole). However, the Soviet Union, and later Russia, constructed a number of manned drifting stations on a generally annual basis since 1937, some of which have passed over or very close to the Pole. Since 2002, the Russians have also annually established a base, Barneo, close to the Pole. This operates for a few weeks during early spring. Studies in the 2000s predicted that the North Pole may become seasonally ice-free because of Arctic ice shrinkage, with timescales varying from 2016 to the late 21st century or later.
The sea water has a stable temperature and is separated into four distinct layers as follows. The top are surface water which has a temperature of in summer and in winter. The next layer is formed by the inflows from the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea coming through the Bering Strait; it extends up to the North Pole. The warmest, deep Atlantic layer has the temperatures between 0 and 1 °C (32 to 34 °F), and water at the bottom is a bit colder at −0.4 to −0.8 °C (31.3 to 30.6 °F). The average salinity varies between 28‰ and 32‰ (parts per thousand) from south to north. Typical air temperatures (at Tuktoyaktuk) are in January and in July.