Both the Arctic (North Pole) and the Antarctic (South Pole) are very cold because they get very little direct sunlight. The Sun is always low on the horizon, even in the middle of summer. In winter, the Sun is so far below the horizon that it doesn't come up at all for months at a time. So the days are just like the nights — cold and dark.
Even though the North Pole and South Pole are "polar opposites," they both get the same amount of sunlight. But the South Pole is a lot colder than the North Pole. Why? Well, the poles are polar opposites in other ways too.
The Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land. The Antarctic is land surrounded by ocean.
The Arctic is the North Pole, and the South Pole is in Antarctica. The poles are on the top of the Earth, and on the bottom of the Earth, respectively. Based on these maps, you can see that the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land, while Antarctica is land surrounded by ocean on all sides. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The ocean under the Arctic ice is cold, but still warmer than the ice in the glacier Antarctic! So the ocean warms the air a bit.
Antarctica is dry — and high. Under all of Antarctica's ice and snow is land, not ocean. And it has many mountains. The height of the surface is called "elevation" — much of Antarctica's mountains are very tall and rise super high above sea level. So, the Antarctic is at a much higher elevation than the Arctic. The average elevation of Antarctica is about 7,500 feet (2.3 kilometers). And the higher you go, the colder it gets. The Antarctic ice is super thick — up to 3 miles thick! The Antarctic ice forms a huge plateau that sits high above sea level.
This 3-D topographical view of Antarctica gives an idea of its high elevations and mountains. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The main reason that the South Pole is so much colder than the North Pole is because of the strength of the winds blowing around the poles. Antarctic winds are very strong and stop warmer air from mixing with the polar air. This also happens in the Arctic, but winds surrounding the North Pole are not as strong. Because of this, warmer air from the warmer mid-latitudes is able to mix with polar air, making the Arctic warmer.
Check out the table below to see just how much colder the South Pole is than the North Pole! Brrrrr!
| Time of year | Average (mean) temperature | |
| North Pole | South Pole | |
| Summer | 32° F (0° C) | −18° F (−28.2° C) |
| Winter | −40° F (−40° C) | −76° F (−60° C) |
The Equator is closer to the sun than the poles and receives sunlight more directly and all year round. This results in different climate zones in different parts of the Earth having different climate conditions.
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Written by: YUNG Chung-hoi
The sun is so far away that it practically shines equally at the equator and the poles. But why is the equator very hot and the poles very cold?
There are several factors that influence the amount of sunshine received at various places on the earth.
The major factor is that while the sun is overhead at the equator, it is at a rather slant angle at the poles. This effect can be demonstrated using a torch, which can be taken as the sun. See Figure 1. What really counts is the amount of sunshine that falls on a given area. At the equator, the area A receives the same amount of sunshine as another area B at a higher latitude. Since, from Figure 1, B is clearly greater than A, the amount of sunshine that falls on a unit area (for instance a square metre) at area B is less than that at area A. In other words, for the same area of 1 square metre, the amount of sunshine received is greater at A than at B.
Figure 1: With the beam at an angle, area B is greater than area A.
Figure 2: Rays from the sun to the earth. The area lit by the sun's ray is greater at A than at B. So, the solar energy falling on a unit area is greater at the tropics than at higher latitudes.
The other factors, which are less important, include:-
a) Absorption and scattering of sunshine when passing through the atmosphere - the amount of absorption and scattering depends on the nature and concentration of air molecules and small particles in the atmosphere. All things being equal, at higher latitudes the sun's path is longer. Naturally, there are more air molecules and particles along the way, resulting in greater absorption and scattering. Hence less solar energy reaches these places.
b) Reflection by the earth's surface. As the sun's ray reaches the earth, some of the energy is reflected back and does not warm up the place. The amount of reflection depends on the nature of the surface. Snow is an extreme in terms of reflection, since as much as 75 to 95% of the incoming sunshine is bounced back - not much help for the already cold weather in snow-covered areas. However, with an overall decreasing trend in snow cover in recent years due to climate change, more and more solar energy gets absorbed. A very likely consequence is still warmer conditions and less snow cover, further aggravating the equilibrium.
[Reference: The Wonder of the Weather, Bureau of Meteorology, An AGPS Press publication.]
UPDATED. This time of year some people talk of a fictitious character who lives at the North Pole. Most people generally have an understanding that the North Pole is a cold place but may not know why. During this holiday season, it felt like the most wonderful time of the year to explain why the North Pole is cold and why scientists have been paying closer attention to it this year?
The North Pole from a NOAA Webcam. Source: NOAA
Let's start with the climatology of the North Pole first. Both Poles are relatively cold because they don't receive direct sunlight. Even during the summer months, the Sun is relatively low on the horizon. In winter months, the Sun doesn't come up at all for much of the season. These factors are caused by the axial tilt of the Earth. This same axial tilt helps define our seasons as well. In addition, the Sun's rays have to travel through more of the Earth's atmosphere because of the angle of incidence at the Poles. In the Tropics, the Sun's rays travel through less of the atmosphere and is more direct. If you want a visual example of this, take a flashlight and hold it straight down (Tropics) and at an angle (Poles). Did you notice how more broad the beam is for the "angle" experiment. These factors provide a simple answer to why it is cold at the North Pole. I will discuss the more complex reasons in a moment.
According to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
The annual mean temperature at the North Pole is -40F (-40C) in winter
and 32F (0C) in summer.
As cold as that seems, the South Pole's numbers are colder according to the same source,
The annual mean temperature at the South Pole in winter is -76F (-60C) and -18F
(-28.2C) in summer.
North Pole temperature anomaly on November 19, 2016. Image generated using ClimateReanalyzer.org... [+] tool.
Why is the South Pole colder? The Antarctic is basically land surrounded by an ocean; whereas the Arctic is mostly ocean surrounded by land. Because of the high heat capacity of water, the ocean beneath the Arctic moderates the temperature somewhat because it remains at a relative constant temperature of around -1.11 deg (30 deg F) . Antartica is dry and has significant elevation (it's average elevation, according to NASA, is 7,500 feet). With increasing elevation, temperatures generally decrease at a rate of roughly 6.5 deg C for each 1 km. This is called the lapse rate.
Ok, let's go back to the North Pole. There are other reasons why the North Pole (and its Southern sister) are cold. Typically, these polar regions are also covered in snow and ice which are highly reflective (i.e. they have a high albedo). Surfaces with high albedos reflect more of the Sun's energy rather absorbing it to warm. The Arctic and Antarctic regions are also very dry. Think about your own experience with the cold and warm seasons of the year. During the warm season, a humid place like Florida can feel even warmer because of the combined effect of temperature and moisture. This is commonly referred to as Heat Index although some scientists may also use terms like Apparent Temperature or Wet Bulb Globe Temperature. The cold season brings drier conditions and the spikes in lotion sales. The Poles are very dry. In fact, the South Pole is the driest continent on Earth.
In terms of precipitation, precipitation amounts are actually low. In fact, some parts of the Arctic are polar deserts and receive about the same amount of precipitation as the Sahara desert. Over 50% of the precipitation events at the North Pole are snowfall though rain can happen under rare circumstances.
For the past two years, abnormal warming has gotten the attention of scientists. In November of 2016, researchers from the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute pointed out, using its totally awesome ClimateReanalyzer tool, that the North Pole was more than 20 degrees C (36 degrees F) warmer than it had been in the past several decades (1979 to 2000). The Arctic sea ice was well below normal most of the year also. While many factors are likely at play, including meteorology, the backdrop of climate warming can't be ignored. Rutgers Professor Jennifer Francis told Livescience senior writer Laura Geggel, "The loss of the sea ice, the increased melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, the thawing of permafrost, the changes in the weather patterns, the rising sea level — it's all consistent with our expectations for the response of the climate system to increases in greenhouse gases......It's been totally expected. What's not expected is how fast it's been happening." What she is referring to is the fact that there is less ice to reflect the Sun's energy so a positive feedback of warming happens. Further, some of her research on Arctic Amplification suggests that jet stream patterns are also being altered by the declining sea ice.
By the way, some readers are probably ready to ask, but what about the Antarctic and its changes. Scientists have long understood why Arctic and Antarctic trends would be different as climate warms. This NASA explanation is one of the best I have seen. Even with this understanding, losses in the Antarctic have also been alarming this year and is why scientists are actually watching both Poles.
Oh, and by the way, Washington Post Capital Weather Gang is reporting that temperatures are expected to warm 50 degrees above normal Christmas week. That's not normal folks.