The coldest place on Earth is actually ... even colder

A new study indicates that mountain trenches near the top of the Antarctic ice sheet reach temperatures near -100 degrees Celsius in the winter.

This result changed the scientific view of the definition of "the coldest place" on the surface of the Earth.

The eastern plateau of Antarctica is the coldest place in the world.(Photo: Research.umn.edu).

Because the eastern plateau of Antarctica is a harsh, heavy snowy area, it is difficult to install weather measuring devices, so they used satellite data from 2004 to 2016 to give a figure of -98 degrees Celsius ( -148 degrees F).

Small depressions inside the Antarctic ice sheet are the place with the coldest temperatures. Because the cold air is too dense, it will spill inside the sunken area and become stuck for many days if the sky outside is cloudless and light wind. You will realize the same thing in other valleys around the world, at night time.

The study also found that dry air is also an important factor to create extremely cold temperatures. The snow surface and the space above the dry air layer will be colder than usual. But this phenomenon will stop if the surrounding conditions change: no longer dry and stable. Then the cold air will mix with the warmer air flow.

Ted Scambos at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder said: "In this area, we find extremely dry air currents, and this causes heat to heat on the surface. The snow radiates into the space more easily (referring to the hot temperature in the snow that is easily annihilated) ".

A campsite near Vostak station in the Antarctic summer.(Photo by Ted Scambos).

According to the researchers, -98 degrees Celsius is the cold level that can be recorded on the Earth's surface. And to bring the temperature down to that level, two conditions must be met for several days: the surrounding environment is stable and there is a constant flow of dry air.

If the above conditions are met for weeks, the temperature will be even lower, but this case is very unlikely to happen, Scambos stressed.

Scientists announced in 2013 that they had recorded the coldest temperature on the Earth's surface in Antarctica. Sensors of many satellites have measured -93 degrees Celsius at many points in the eastern Antarctic plateau - the area that surrounds the South Pole of this giant ice sheet.

However, they had to "fix it" because a latest study found that temperatures could also fall to -98 degrees Celsius between July and August.

Previously, weather stations were used to measure temperatures and the lowest level ever recorded by a weather station was -89 degrees Celsius at Russia's Vostok station in July 1983.