Medical Romance & Adventure

Crazy Cold Facts:

More than 99 percent of Antarctica is covered with ice.

Antarctica has 70% of all the world's freshwater frozen as ice - and 90% of
all the world's ice.

Lowest recorded temperature on earth - Vostok station Antarctica -89.2°C /
-128.6°F (not including windchill).

Average summer temperature at South Pole -27.5°C / -17.5°F.

Average winter temperature at South Pole -60°C / -76°F.

Mawson station in Antarctica is the windiest place on earth. Average wind
speed: 37 kmh / 23 mph. Maximum recorded gust: 248.4 kmh / 154 mph.

In the winter Antarctica doubles in size due to the sea ice that forms
around the coasts.

Antarctica is a desert. The average annual precipitation is only about 2 in,
less than the Sahara.

There are at least two active volcanoes in Antarctica, Mount Erebus (3794
m/12,448 ft) is the highest and has a permanent molten lava lake.

Antarctica has no trees or bushes at all.

Antarctica was imagined by the ancient Greeks, but no-one had set eyes on it
before 1820.

If Antarctica's ice sheets melted, the worlds oceans would rise by 60 to 65
metres (200 - 210 ft) - everywhere.

Antarctica is the best place in the world to find meteorites. Dark
meteorites show up against the white expanse of ice and snow.

Due to extremely low humidity, high winds and lack of water fire is the
single greatest danger in Antarctica.

It is scientifically possible to have an allergic reaction to the cold. It
usually presents as hives.

-40 degrees is the same regardless of the scale used. 40 below is 40 below
in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Alcohol slows the heart rate and dehydrates the body, increasing the effects
of hypothermia and frostbite.

Prevent hypothermia by wearing at least three layers of loose-fitting
clothes. The air pockets between the layers will help retain body heat and
prevent sweating.

Between 10,000 to 15,000 icebergs are calved from glaciers around the world
each year.

Most snow fall in one-year period: 31.1 meters (102 ft); Mount Rainier,
Washington, United States, February 19, 1971 to February 18, 1972.

Largest snowflake ever observed: 38 cm (15 in) in diameter; Fort Keogh,
Montana, United States, Feb 28, 1887.

Exposed skin can freeze within 1 minute at -20°F to -69°F (-29°C to -56°C).

Exposed skin can freeze in 30 seconds at ? -70°F (? -57°C).

The human body cools 25 times faster in cold water than it does in air.

The South Pole is the least sunny place in the world - only 182 days of
sunshine a year.

On 14th April, 1986, Bangladesh was hit by the biggest hail stones ever
recorded - weighing in at over 1kg (2.5 lbs) each - killing 92 people.