NASA scientists have identified the coldest spot on Earth.
NASA officials announced on December 16 that the location is a high ridge on the East Antarctic Plateau. Temperatures in this region can drop as low as 135 degrees below zero.
NASA previously identified this area as the coldest region on Earth in 2013. The lowest temperature recorded there was -135.8 degrees Fahrenheit in clear weather.
That record surpassed the temperatures previously recorded at the Russian Vostok Research Station in Eastern Antarctica in 1983. This station recorded lows of -128.6 degrees
The remote village of Oymyakon in Russia is considered the coldest continually inhabited area on Earth, with temperatures averaging -58 degrees and dropping as low as -96.16. This area is a two-day drive from Yakutsk, the regional capital, which experiences the lowest winter temperature of any city in the world.
The lowest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was in Prospect Creek, Alaska, north of Fairbanks, on January 23, 1971. This region recorded temperatures of -80 degrees.
Naturally, low temperatures like these present hazardous conditions for humans. A wind chill of -20 degrees can cause frostbite in just 30 minutes, according to the National Weather Service. Hypothermia sets in as soon as a human’s body temperature drops below 95 degrees.
Texas will experience its own arctic blast starting on December 22, with temperatures dropping into the teens, resulting in a hard freeze, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.Â
