What is the coldest place in Antarctica like?
Elizabeth Cody, Cape Town, South Africa The site of the lowest temperature recorded on earth: -86.6C is Vostok Station, the Russian research station located near the South Geomagnetic Pole, at the centre of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.Vostok was built in 1957 and named for one of Bellingshausen s two ships. Newcomers gasp for breath at Vostok, because although the station sits at an elevation of 3448m, the low pressure of the atmosphere makes it feel like 5000m. Because of its elevation, Vostok is colder than the South Pole. Vostok s record high temperature, set in 2002, is -12.3C!
