Summer holidays on the beach, the sun shines from the sky, cocktails by the sea and swimwear wherever you look – is that not for you? The ten coldest places on earth offer a strong contrast program – which, however, should not necessarily be suitable for a vacation or even just for the stay of people:
- The plateau of East Antarctica – the coldest place on earth
It has not yet been decided for a long time: the coldest temperature ever measured on Earth was determined at this location. After all, minus 93.2 ° C. minus. It is impossible for people to live here, even without a protective suit and breathing apparatus. The temperature measurement was carried out by satellite.
- Vostok weather station, Antarctica
At this Russian weather station we find the coldest temperature ever measured with a thermometer: minus 89.2 ° C. In the midsummer of 1983.
- Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica
This research station is one of the ten coldest places on earth, where it was already possible to measure minus 82.8 ° C. In midsummer there are more than 100 South Pole researchers here – only a few of them stay in winter. 4. Oimjakon in Siberia
The small Siberian town was considered the coldest place in the world until 2013. At temperatures down to minus 71.2 ° C, however, it is still 20 ° C warmer than in East Antarctica – a few hundred people have even settled there. In summer it can get up to 30 ° C.
- North Ice, Greenland
Also a research station, located on a huge glacier, the Greenland ice sheet. In 1954 the cold record of this place was recorded at minus 65.9 ° C.
- Snag, Canada
In this small village in the Canadian Yukon, which is considered the coldest place on the entire American continent, a temperature of minus 63 ° C was measured in the winter of 1947. Although there was still a well-functioning gold digger settlement here in the 19th century, it is now almost completely empty. The gold miners left behind a ghost town of cold, over which a small plane disappeared in 1950, the remains of which could never be found.
- Eureka, Canada
Now we are taking big steps into the habitable temperature areas. The weather station on the northernmost island in Canada measures down to minus 40 ° C in winter. In summer, temperatures rarely climb above minus 20.
- Ulaanbaatar (Ulaanbaatar), Mongolia
The Mongolian capital is considered the coldest capital in the world. The average annual temperature is only minus 2 ° C, in winter it can get as cold as minus 25 ° C. Officially, the city has almost 1.5 million inhabitants, which is almost half of the total Mongolian population. However, many of these people are only in the capital for the winter and will move through the country for the remaining months.
- Astana, Kazakhstan
In the Kazakh capital it doesn’t get as cold on average as in Ulaanbaatar, but it can get down to minus 40 ° C in individual cases. The absolute minimum temperature measured was minus 52 ° C. After all, the second coldest capital in the world.
- Funtensee, Germany
It doesn’t always have to be another continent for such incredibly cold temperatures. It can also get very frosty here in Germany. At Funtensee, in the Berchtesgaden National Park in Bavaria, it became minus 45.9 ° C in 2001 – not the only cold record recorded here, only the highest so far. Due to its unique boiler location, the lake itself is also significantly colder than in the areas directly surrounding it. The greatest temperature difference between the lake and cliffs just 100 meters higher was 27 ° C in 2000.