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Antarctica

✨ The ice desert at the end of the world

Antarctica is the southernmost continent, centered on the South Pole and surrounded by the Southern Ocean. It is almost entirely covered by a vast ice sheet that contains most of Earth’s freshwater ice. Antarctica is the coldest continent and also the driest, because its interior receives very little precipitation; in many areas, powerful winds are also common.

Its landscape includes enormous ice shelves, glaciers, mountains and exposed rocky areas. The continent has no permanent native human population, and there are no cities or ordinary settlements. Instead, scientists and support staff from many countries live there temporarily, mainly at research stations.

Antarctica is home to animals specially adapted to the polar environment, including penguins, seals and several seabirds, while most marine life depends directly or indirectly on the surrounding ocean. Plant life on land is limited because of the extreme cold, dryness and lack of ice-free ground.

Antarctica is also important for understanding Earth’s climate: its ice stores information about past atmospheric conditions, and changes in the ice sheet can affect sea level around the world. The continent and nearby islands are governed through the Antarctic Treaty System, which promotes peaceful scientific cooperation and places strong limits on military activities and mineral resource exploitation.

💡 Did you know?

Antarctica holds the record for absolute cold on Earth! In 1983, researchers measured a temperature of -89.2 °C. It is so cold that if you threw a glass of boiling water into the air, it would instantly turn into ice crystals before even touching the ground. In these conditions, even oil freezes and becomes hard as stone!

Did you know that emperor penguins are the only animals to stay in Antarctica during the freezing winter? To protect the egg the female has laid, the male keeps it on his feet, under a fold of his skin, for two months without ever eating! To avoid freezing at -60 °C, thousands of emperors huddle together forming a giant 'turtle' and rotate so that everyone can warm up in the center.

There is a strange place in Antarctica called 'Blood Falls'. There, you see bright red water flowing over the white ice of a glacier. Rest assured, it's not blood! It's actually very salty water rich in iron that comes from a lake hidden under the ice for two million years. When this water touches the air, the iron instantly 'rusts', which gives this impressive red color.