Pole of Cold

Pole of Cold 

a region with the lowest air temperature at the surface of the earth for a given hemisphere or the whole earth. In the northern hemisphere the poles of cold are located in Yakutia and Greenland. The poles in Yakutia are in Verk-hoiansk and Oimiakon. In Verkhoiansk an absolute minimum temperature of – 68°C has been observed, and in Oimiakon a temperature of – 68°C was recorded during a thaw period in 1933. It has been calculated that the temperature may drop to –71°C in the coldest years. Minimum temperatures close to these may be observed in other intermontane basins as well. Absolute minimum temperatures below – 65°C have been observed on the Greenland ice cap.

In the southern hemisphere the pole of cold is located in Eastern Antarctica at an elevation of approximately 3,500 m. Here the temperature reached an absolute minimum of – 88.3°C at Vostok Station, the coldest recorded air temperature at the surface of the earth. An absolute minimum temperature of - 86.2°C has been recorded at Plateau Station.