Which is colder — the North Pole or the South Pole?

Both ends of the Earth are bitterly cold, but they are not equally cold. The South Pole is far colder than the North Pole. The difference is dramatic: average winter temperatures at the South Pole can be tens of degrees lower than those at the North Pole. At first this seems strange, since both poles receive a similar small amount of sunlight. The real explanation lies in what each pole sits on.

The single biggest reason the South Pole is colder is elevation. The South Pole is located on the continent of Antarctica, and it rests on top of a vast, thick ice sheet. This puts the South Pole at a very high altitude, more than two and a half kilometers above sea level. Just as a tall mountaintop is colder than the valley below, this great height makes the South Pole brutally cold. Antarctica is also a landmass, and land loses heat quickly.

The North Pole is completely different. It is not on land at all. It sits in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, on floating sea ice at sea level. The ocean water beneath that ice acts like a giant storage heater. Even when it is frozen over, the relatively warmer water below releases heat upward, gently warming the air. This ocean effect keeps the North Pole milder than its southern counterpart.

Because of these factors, Antarctica holds the record for the coldest temperatures ever measured anywhere on the planet. The continent's combination of high elevation, permanent ice cover, and isolation from warm ocean currents makes it the most extreme cold environment on Earth. The North Pole, by comparison, is harsh but noticeably less severe.

This article was written using information from Wikipedia.