Why is it so cold in Antarctica?

Answer 1

Antarctica is cold, far colder (-60C) than the Arctic (-30C), for three reasons.

1. Its altitude. Average height is 2800 metres, that's almost three kilometres. Every km higher cools the temperature by -6C. The Arctic is sea ice at sea level, floating on water that is much warmer than the Antarctic rock.
2. Its atmosphere. This is very thin, with very few clouds to trap the sun's heat. Most heat is reflected off the ice and snow back into space.
3. No surrounding land masses. There are no other continents near Antarctica. Land masses retain heat and warm the surrounding water. Antarctica's waters are very cold.

Answer 2

It is farthest away from the equator and it doesn't get a Lot of sun light to produce heat.

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A more accurate answer is that the Earth's surface at high latitudes (North and South) is at such an angle to the radiation from the Sun that the heat (infra-red radiation) is greatly reduced by the correspondingly much greater thickness of atmosphere through which it has to pass. .

Distance from the Equator is not relevant here because the Sun's light and heat passing above both Poles are at the same intensity as they are arriving at the top of the atmosphere above the Equator. The tiny geometrical difference in distances is insignificant. The atmosphere is the key to the question, as it is an effective "sun-screen".

Another Answer

Antarctica lies south of the Antarctic Circle, which means that this geography experiences at least one 24-hour period of no sunrise/ sunset. At the south pole, this period is six months. Lack of sunshine also contributes to Antarctica's cold.

Answer 3

Antarctica is located around the South Pole. At such a high latitude the sunlight strikes the ground at an oblique angle, resulting in less heat being delivered per square meter. The effect is compounded by the snow and ice the cover most of the continent, which reflects most of the sunlight back into space rather than absorbing it and warming up.

Winters are especially cold because Antarctica is within the Antarctic Circle. Areas within this circle will experience and extended period in the winter during which the sun never rises.

Answer 4

Antarctica is polar: both poles are cold. Antarctica is colder than the north pole, because it is a continent and the north pole is situated in frozen sea ice.

Answer 5

antarctica has a cold climate because it lies near the poles

Answer 6

Because the sun hits the poles (Antarctica, the Arctic) at an indirect angle, therefore not heating it up enough to melt the ice.

Answer 7

Sunlight is focused on the earth's equator. Farther away from the equator, it gets colder.

Answer 8

high altitude