Antarctica is full of the white continent in the world, with ups and down, from right to left everything is white. It covers an area of 14.2 million sq km. fishes in Antarctica have ‘antifreeze’ proteins in their blood which prevents them from freezing in the ocean. Also, In the summer travelers jump on the polar region and they can swim in the coldest environment!
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The largest desert in the world
Maybe the heading makes you confused that how could it be a desert when it stores lots of fresh water in it?
Ok, let me clear it up.
Desert, when we think about it, consciously or unconsciously a hot, sandy place comes to our mind. But the fact is, if an area receives very little amount of rain, fog, snow, etc. it should be recognised as a desert. Antarctica is that type of region that got an overall 10 mm of rainfall over the past 30 years. According to researchers, some parts of Antarctica have not received any rain for 2 million years!
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No time zone
Antarctica is a place where time has no meaning. Totally inhabited, rarely visited by researchers or a group of people is not divided into any time zone. Scientists or people who visited Antarctica calculate the time zone of the country they are from. So it is difficult to share data or any information from the place to other countries as people have confused with time here. Moreover, in summer it is completely daylight for 6 months, and 6 months of darkness in winter.
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Has active volcanoes
Though Antarctica is the coldest place on earth, it has active volcanoes. They are 2 in numbers, the Mount Erebus(due south of New Zealand), last erupted in the late 1960s and the Deception Island( south east of Cape horn, south America).
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Its melting
According to researchers, Antarctica is now melting and it is considered that in the future it may shed ice faster than ever. A study published in Nature Geoscience says that it could cause sea levels to rise more than 11 ft in the next few centuries.
- Stores 70% of the world’s freshwater
When the whole world is facing trouble every day to meet the demand for freshwater, Antarctica is holding more than 70% of the world’s freshwater under its vast ice sheets. It is considered that if Antarctica’s ice started melting, global sea level will rise about 200 ft.
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Bigger than the US
Antarctica is the coldest,driest,highest and windiest continent among the seven continents. It is almost the size of the United States and Mexico. Also it has been said that it is twice the size of australia. In summer, its total surface area is about 14.2 million sq km.
That’s all about antarctica? Obviously not. There are so many fascinating, amazing facts Antarctica holds that no one can describe it in a short way. For instance: it is not always cold there, there is a chilean village, it has lots of unfrozen lakes etc.
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Writer:
Rubaiya begum
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE