Amazing Antarctica

Amazing Antarctica

The Seventh Continent Give a globe a spin. On it you can easily find six continents: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. These lands have been home to humans for many thousands of years. Now look at the bottom of the globe. There you will find continent number seven: Antarctica.

Antarctica is located far from where anyone lives and is surrounded by rough seas. For a long time, no one knew it was there. Many explorers have sailed the stormy Antarctic waters throughout history. However, people didn't actually discover Antarctica until around 1820. No one individual is given credit for its discovery. A few men are said to have sighted it within days of each other. Historians also do not agree on the first people to explore its lands.

Over the last two hundred years, we have learned that Antarctica is a place of extremes. It is the coldest and windiest continent, and it gets the least rain and snow. Antarctica also has some of the most amazing wildlife in the world.

Freezing Antarctica During the winter, Earth's southern half is turned away from the Sun. For a couple of weeks in June and July-winter in Antarctica-the Sun never rises. For a period in December and January一 summer in Antarctica--the Sun never sets. Antarctica's location means the weather is usually cold, icy, and windy. The temperature in summer most often reaches just above 0C (32°F). In winter, the temperature is almost always below -18℃ (0°F). The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was at an Antarctic science station in July 1983. It got down to -89℃ (-128°F).

This extreme cold is why thick sheets of ice cover Antarctica. At its deepest, Antarctica's ice is 4 kilometers (2. 5 mi. ) thick. With all that ice, it might seem surprising that Antarctica is also the driest continent. It gets less than 5 centimeters (2 in. ) of rain and snow a year.