South Pole colder than the north pole. why ??????

nafaa

Hello .. I have a question .. Why the South Pole colder than the north pole ???? (for the earth).

tasp77

Abundance and proximity of moisture (Artic Ocean) at the north one moderates temperature swings. South pole is deep inside a continental land mass.

willem2

It's land, not sea.
It's 3000 m above sealevel

nafaa

What do you mean .. Please explain

D H

And it is at a high elevation. The South Pole is about 2800 meters above sea level.

nafaa

Height increases as less heat

Evo

Yes, it is colder at higher altitudes.

rbj

also, the earth is at it's aphelion when the southern hemisphere is having its winter (like in June). so when we, in the north, have winter (like in December), the earth is closest to the sun in its orbit. i would think that this would contribute to making our winters more mild than the southern hemisphere's winters.

D H

Correction: The correct terms are aphelion/perihelion, rather than apogee/perigee. Apogee means "furthest from the Earth" and pertains to objects such as the Moon and artificial satellites that orbit the Earth. Aphelion means "furthest from the Sun" and pertains to planets such as the Earth that orbit the Sun.

That doesn't answer your question. You would think that the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit would make seasons in the southern hemisphere more severe than seasons in the northern hemisphere. The effect is quite small. The reason is that the southern hemisphere has only half as much land area as does the northern hemisphere. Water has a rather high specific heat compared to rock.

nafaa

Is the South Pole is the highest area (for the sea level) on the surface of the planet???
Means the South Pole is higher than the summit of Mount Everest, therefore, at low temperature???

Evo

A good starting point for you would be to learn how to use a world atlas. I'll start you off with the South Pole, then you can find the information on Mt Everest. It is so much better to learn how to use the proper resources.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/an.htm

pmarch.

Antarctica is essentially a dome... Very cold from higher in the atrmosphere drops down and flows outwards toward the ocean, where a lack of nearby landmasses ensure the prevailing winds are circular around the base of the mound. Outside warmer influences are thus prevented from getting in... (incidentally, this may just have a slight consequence for global warming theorists!!!).

Nothing complicated in science... just observe, record and interpret!!!!!!!




pmarchant.

turbo

Please observe (as stated previously) that the Arctic ice-cap is surrounded by and floating on a sea and that sea has a thermal mass that moderates the temperature up there. The Antarctic is surrounded by an ocean, but it is mostly ice-on-land, with relatively little shelf-ice. Yes, some pretty large chunks of ice have broken off Antarctic shelves over the past years, but that doesn't significantly diminish the mass of the Antarctic ice-cap. A very different set-up.

nafaa

I found that the high summit of Everest 8848 m above sea level. The highest point in Antarctica point Vinson Massif at 16,066 feet (4897 m). This means that the summit of Mount Everest should be higher colder than the Antarctic because of the Mount Everest, the highest up from Antarctica. Increase in height leads to lower heat
Is this true???

D H

That would be correct if all other factors were equal, but all other factors are not equal.

DaveC426913

Indeed.
Mt. Everest is but a small place, surrounded by more temperate climes. Antarctica is ice sheet for about 1000 miles in every direction.
Mt. Everest is relatively near the equator where summer is quite warm. Summer near the poles is anemic at best.
etc.

I like Serena

Yes, increase in height leads to lower temperature.

Beyond that the Antartic receives less incident sunlight.
And more of the sunlight received is reflected back by snow and ice.