The strongest frost: records and interesting facts

Our planet holds many secrets. Exploring some of its secrets, a man, it would seem, has long reached the very essence, however, new and new riddles are found around.

A severe frost is one of those phenomena that humanity has always studied with increased interest. The poles, so inaccessible and at the same time rich and generous, always attracted desperate and brave.

In this article we will look at some of the coldest places in the world and talk about their inhabitants, and also touch on the issue of how to survive in severe frost. Some of the most interesting facts will help to get the most complete picture of record low temperatures.

World record

Many still remember from the school that the strongest frost was recorded at the Russian station Vostok in Antarctica. In the rating of the coldest cities in the world this place can not be included, since it is not a populated place at all. However, people there live permanently (in shifts), conducting research work.

The absolute record recorded on planet Earth was -89.2 degrees. This happened on July 21, 1989, and since then such a temperature has never been recorded.

The strongest frosts in history

People began to observe weather conditions and weather for a rather long time. However, of course, there were no precise instruments that would allow an objective assessment of the situation. The ancestors left us only subjective judgments about those days when the frost was especially fierce.

There is still a lot of evidence. For example, it is known that in 856 the Adriatic Sea was completely frozen. 1010th was anomalously cold even for Egypt - the Nile was covered with ice. A severe frost, raging in 1210 in Italy, shook even the canals of Venice. Frosts of 1322 allowed the sledge path between Germany and Denmark to be laid right across the Baltic Sea. And in 4 years the ice seized the Mediterranean Sea, which usually does not freeze even near the coast. The 1709th was a record cold for the people of France. According to the testimony of contemporaries, the temperature in -24 lasted several months. During the ringing church bells cracked, and in the cellars the wines froze. In 1953-1954, frosts chafed almost all of Eurasia, from France to the Urals more than five months the temperatures were record low. The ponds froze, the sea of Azov completely covered with ice. The wintry winter returned to Europe in a dozen years, turning into an icy mirror of the river of Italy and France.

Of course, many cold winters survived and Russia. It is not for nothing that among those who came to her with the war, there were legends about General Moroz, who is fighting on the side of the Russians. But for the indigenous population, frosts are so common that the ice-bound river, a curiosity worthy of mention in the annals of history, never seemed. Moreover, if during the strongest in the year frosts (Epiphany) the pond is covered with ice, an ice-hole is made in it, so that you can swim!

In search of the cold capital

Some of the settlements of Russia are on the list of the coldest in the world. Residents not only do not aspire to leave massively snow-capped cities and towns, but also try to defend the right to call their small homeland the capital of the cold.

One of the main contenders for this title is the Russian Oymyakon. In this city there are severe frosts 9 months a year. The record temperature in -71.2 was recorded in the 29th year of the last century. In these parts -40 Celsius is not considered an event out of the ordinary. The population of Oymyakon is small, about 600 people. It is interesting that the name is translated from the local adverb as "non-freezing water". Ordinary water there, of course, freezes, but the name of the settlement is due to hot keys hitting from under the ground. You can detect them even during and after severe frosts. Oymyakon can safely be awarded the title of "The coldest inhabited locality." An even lower average annual temperature prevails in the village of Deyankyr, also located in Yakutia.

The main competitor of Oymyakon is the city of Verkhoyansk. The fixed temperature of -69.8 degrees is considered a serious bid to win. The history of the city began with a settlement for exiles. Is it possible to invent a penalty that is just as terrible as a reference to eternal winter? Once there were sent unwanted people, and today in Verkhoyansk there are at least 1.4 thousand people, apparently happy with fate and loving their native harsh land. Residents of Verkhoyansk deserve the right to call their small homeland the coldest city.

Many other settlements, which are on the list of the most frosty, are rather small. Therefore, Irkutsk, with a population of 250 thousand, falls into our top as the coldest of the big cities of administrative significance.

Other cold spots

A lot of settlements are located on the coast and islands of the Arctic Ocean. A severe frost is habitual for the population engaged mainly in defense, research and mining enterprises. It's not just about Russia, but also the countries of Scandinavia, American Alaska, Greenland. A harsh climate prevails in some mountain regions (for example, in Mongolia and Kazakhstan). But the thermometer's column there rarely sinks below 40, so they can not compete with the Antarctic and the Arctic.

Eternal Frost

On the northern banks of the Vilyui River in Siberia in February 1982, scientists recorded a record of permafrost. Its depth exceeded 1370 meters. Powerful layers of ice, which never melts, is also found on the Taimyr Peninsula. In some places their depth reaches 600 meters.

Fauna and flora of the most frosty places on the planet

Surprisingly, the regions with the most severe climate are not at all lifeless. Why do strong frosts not frighten animals and birds? There are a number of protective properties that inhabit living areas of the eternal winter living creatures. This is a thick waterproof fur and feathers, a thick layer of subcutaneous fat, a special thermoregulation.

The fauna of the Arctic is quite diverse. In these parts there are several species of mammals: polar bears, walruses, Arctic foxes and wolves, deer, lemmings, narwhals, whales and killer whales. Great and the number of northern birds, and the cold seas are rich in fish. In Antarctica there live a huge number of penguins (in the northern hemisphere they are not).

In Antarctica, several hundred miles from the South Pole you can find lichens and mosses. They are also distributed on the opposite pole of the planet. The dominant position is the yagel. The fierce cold and some large plants are transferred: birches, coniferous trees. And during a short summer in the Far North you can even see flowers. A huge adaptive potential allows northern plants to survive a long frosty winter. They do not die even in severe frosts and wait for a thaw to catch their portion of sunlight.

How to survive in severe frost?

Severe frost is especially dangerous for those who grew up in a mild climate. What is habitual for northerners can play a fatal role for an unprepared person. To protect yourself from frostbite, everyone needs to know a few simple rules. After all, as we already know, strong frosts sometimes happen even in warm regions.

First, the use of alcohol "for warming" is unacceptable. Alcohol in no way prevents hypothermia, but only contributes to it, creating a short illusion of heat. Secondly, due to the need to work in the air during strong frosts it is necessary to alternate with rest periods in a warm room. If you suspect a frostbite of the limbs and face, you must warm the victim with dry heat and immediately send to the hospital. Do not hope that the ailment will pass by itself. Important in the prevention of hypothermia is well-organized regular hardening. Seriously it is worth treating the choice of clothes.

Photographs of the coldest places on the planet make it possible to see how beautiful these edges are. For true connoisseurs, even the most severe frosts do not interfere with admiring their harsh beauty.