• Howick and Pakuranga Times
• The continent of Antarctica is the fifth biggest on Earth and accounts for 10 per cent of the planet’s land area.
• It comes in at 14 million square kilometres. In summer, there is another 2.5m km2 of sea ice, which increases to 19m km2 in winter, more than doubling the continent’s size.
• Only two per cent of land in Antarctica is not covered in ice.
• Antarctic ice, which at its thickest reaches 5km in depth, makes up almost 70 per cent of Earth’s fresh water. If it all melted, sea levels would rise 50-60 metres.
• Because of its ice-cap, Antarctica is the world’s highest continent, averaging 2300m above sea level, and the highest peak is Vinson Massif at 4900m.
• Antarctica has the lowest recorded temperature – minus 90°C at Vostock in 1983. Inland, temperatures range from -70°C in winter to -35°C in summer. For coastal regions the corresponding figures are -30°C and 0°C.
• It’s the planet’s windiest place and gusts of up to 327kph have been recorded.
• Antarctica is the driest place on Earth. In some places, such as the Dry Valleys, it has not rained for thousands of years. The whole continent is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200mm along the coast and far less inland.
• About 270 million years ago, Antarctica was part of Gondwanaland and probably covered with tundra, marsh and forests, explaining why coal and petrified wood can still be found today. There are also likely to be reserves of oil.
• Fewer than 200,000 people have been to Antarctica, the world’s least-visited place.
• There are no permanent human residents but anywhere from 1000 to 5000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent.
• Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, seals, many types of algae, and tundra vegetation.
