Top 6 Coldest Places In The World For Your Inner Chionophile

S tepping out on a snowy winter evening might sound scary but even a mid-December stroll in an Alaskan neighborhood doesn’t compare when you’re talking about the coldest places in the world. 

These places have the most extreme conditions known to mankind, yet you witness the strength of the human spirit when people adapt and simply carry on with their lives unfazed. 

1. Russian Vostok Station, Antarctica

The Soviet Union built the Vostok research station in 1957 as part of the Southern Pole of Cold, a location in the southern hemisphere with the lowest-recorded surface temperatures. In July 1983, thermometers here recorded a low of -89.2°C, the coldest air temperature ever directly measured. 

It's also one of the driest spots on the planet, with just 20 millimeters of precipitation each year, all of which is snow. The intimidating isolation of Ake Vostok makes it very difficult to approach, and hence tremendously appealing to scientists. Because of its remote location, Vostok can contain secrets that no other place on the earth can. 

Its sediments provide a unique record of Antarctica's environment prior to the arrival of the ice caps, one that has the potential to transform Antarctic research. There might be primordial life in its waters, a native ecosystem living on limited resources - no sunshine, the smallest of fresh-food supplies - and stimulating never-before-seen adaptations.

2. Eastern Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica 

The Antarctic (or Polar Plateau) high heights, along with its high latitudes and unusually long, sunless winters, result in the lowest temperatures in the globe in most years. 

The Antarctic Plateau's climate is unfriendly to life due to the practically constant cold winds that blow over it. The Antarctic Plateau is devoid of penguins, and only a few birds, notably snow petrels and south polar skuas, pass over it. 

If you’re curious about living beings: roundworms, primitive wingless insects, mites, mosquitos, humans, and dogs are the only terrestrial creatures found on the Plateau or in the Antarctic in general.

3. Oymyakon, Russia

The average winter temperature in Oymyakon, Russia, is minus 50 degrees Celsius ( minus 58 F). The secluded community is often regarded as the world's coldest inhabited place. Oymyakon is a two-day trip from Yakutsk, the regional capital and home to the world's coldest winter temperatures. Ironically, Oymyakon means "unfrozen water." 

This is because of the neighboring thermal spring. Reindeer herders used to come here to drink from the warm springs and water their herds. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Oymyakon was minus 71.2 C (minus 96.16 F) in 1924. Wearing glasses outside might cause them to cling to the wearer's face, according to The Independent. This is only one of the many minor issues that come with the really cold weather. 

Other everyday modifications that residents must make are more drastic than a brief period of refractive error upon walking outdoors. Because functional inside plumbing is problematic due to the frozen ground, most toilets are outside. Even burials are an inconvenience because making graves in the hard ground is impossible.

4. Yakutsk, Russia

Although the summers are usually pleasant, the winters in Yakutsk are very cold, and most residents choose to spend the season inside. 

Outside of Antarctica, Yakutsk has the lowest temperature on the planet, with an annual average temperature of just below 20°F. Furthermore, the average temperature during the peak winter season, from November to February, is -26.3°F. 

Yakuts must concentrate on how to go on with their daily routine in subzero conditions. Experts say wearing glasses outdoors could end with you pulling pieces of cheek off your face in an attempt to take off the glasses.

For their limited, but brutally cold, excursions to the grocery and other required stops, Yakuts must ensure that they have hefty fur jackets and suitable headgear.

5. Eismitte, Greenland

The region is renowned to be one of the iciest spots in the upper hemisphere of the globe, having recorded the lowest temperature of -53 degree F (-47.2 degree C) (-47.2 degree C). Though much of Greenland has very freezing winters and the circumstances may be uninhabitable, Eismitte's Winters are a consequence of it being placed in the exact center of Greenland. 

This is the place where the snowcap is the thickest. Also known as Mid-Ice, Eismitte is the home to famous expeditions from the early 1900s.

6. Klinck Field Site, Greenland 

The Klinck field location, at an altitude of 10,170 feet, also lies in the heart of Greenland, where the lowest temperature was recorded (3,100 meters). When there is minimal wind to disrupt the region and clear sky, very cold air temperatures might develop.

The height of the jet stream, which generally travels across the Greenland ice sheet, caused a dead zone in this, enabling the already frigid area to further lose heat to the Earth. Similar circumstances exist over Canada, resulting in the well-known (or notorious) "polar vortex," which brings bitter cold to the States as well.

With that, we wrap up our compilation of the coldest places in the world. Hope you enjoyed going through the list and will have an easier time mustering up the strength to go to class or work in the last few days before your Christmas holidays.