The Coldest Place In The World Today -72 Degrees
A review of World Weather Online’s global maps shows that the coldest place in the world is not in Antarctica, which is usually the case. It is in Summit, Greenland. Summit is located near the center of the world’s largest non-continental island. The temperature is -72 degrees F today.
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Summit Camp, as it is officially known, is a weather station occupied throughout the year. One of the reasons for the extremely cold temperature is that it is located nearly 11,000 feet above sea level. The U.S. National Science Foundation Arctic Research Program, operated by Battelle Arctic Research Operations, funded the facility.
Among the work carried out at Summit Camp is tracking ice sheet movement in Greenland. According to its operators, “Summit Station is also a prime site for astronomy and astrophysics research due to its high altitude and dry and stable atmosphere.”
From December until March, the low daily temperature is often below -50 degrees F. The record low at Summit Camp is -93 degrees F.
Weather activity at Summit Station has also shown the swings climate changes have brought to parts of the world, which are normally very cold. On August 14, 2021, according to The Washington Post, “…staff at the National Science Foundation’s Summit Station woke up to raindrops and water beads condensed on the station’s windows. Rain occasionally falls on the ice sheet, but no staff member recalls rain — even a light drizzle — ever occurring at the summit before.” The temperature was above freezing.
