Do you know that about 70% of the world’s freshwater is locked in Antarctica?
Antarctica is really a unique place on earth. There is nothing like this place in the world and here are some fun facts about it:
Big source of fresh water
Do you know that about 70% of the world’s freshwater is locked in Antarctica? Furthermore, the ice sheet here is the largest in the world. It covers an area of 14 million km sq. Only the 1% area of Antarctica is ice-free permanently. There are other areas too which are ice-free in summer. The ice goes 4.5 km thick which is half of Mount Everest. If this ice melts, then the sea level of the earth will rise to 200 ft.
It is a desert
With lots of water in the forming of ice, how it can be a desert? Well, when we think about deserts, we think about high temperatures, dunes. But in reality, a desert is not a hot and sandy place. It depends on the precipitation of the rain in an area. Any area where there is no rain, mist or fog called a desert.
The average rain recorded at the south pole over the past 30 years was just 10mm. However, there is precipitation on the coast. However, the average in the continent is low enough to call it a desert.
No matter, Antarctica is covered in ice, it takes millions of years to grow its thickness.
Used to be as warm as Melbourne
Another fun fact about Antarctica is that it used to be as warm as Melbourne. The coldest ever temperature noted was -89.2 degree Celsius. No one can imagine that It used to warm. But it is a fact that it was never an icy landlocked. Researchers say that it was a warm area of about 50 million years ago. There is no chance that people can live there. However, in some areas, foreign species are introduced by human activity such as mice, chickens, cats, sheep, Arctic Reindeer, and fish.
Most rapidly warming areas on earth
Antarctica is warming more quickly compared to other areas. In fact, it is warming at a faster speed than other areas. In the past 50 years, the average temperature has increased by 3 degree Celsius. This change in the temperature has caused many major changes in the region.
There is not time zone
What is the time in Antarctica is a tricky question. At the South pole, there are different time zones. Most of the area in this region received constant sunlight for 6 months in summer and 6 months of darkness in winter. So, there are no specific markers for day and night in the area.
Scientists who are doing their research follows the time zone of their country. However, this can cause some issues such as in the Antarctic every country has their stations. If all of the stations keep the time zones of their countries, then it would be difficult for them to share data and resources.
