Antarctica is a place of extremes. Over 58 times the size of the United Kingdom, Antarctica is
the highest, coldest and windiest continent. With a very low snowfall, most of the continent is
technically a desert, with the icecap containing almost 70% of the world's freshwater and 90% of
the world's ice. Huge icebergs break off each year from the floating ice shelves and half of the surrounding
ocean freezes over in winter, more than doubling the size of the continent.
It is also one of the driest, despite being covered in ice sheets up to 4 km thick. The climate
of the continent is determined by a number of factors, including its geographical location, its
high elevation and the belt of sea ice that surrounds it during winter.
To the north of Antarctica lies a belt of strong westerly winds. Vigorous weather systems
develop in this region, as can be seen on this satellite image. Some of these move southwards,
bringing strong winds and heavy snowfall to coastal regions of Antarctica. Few of these weather
systems penetrate far into the high interior of the continent and the snowfall falls off rapidly
inland from the coast.
Much of the high interior receives less than 50 mm water equivalent of snowfall per year and is
thus technically a desert. However, with temperatures remaining well below freezing all year
round, even this meagre snowfall has accumulated into 4 km thick ice sheets over hundreds of
thousands of years.
The Antarctic has not always been totally icy. When dinosaurs roamed and hibernated through the
long polar winter there was enough vegetation to sustain them. But today the ice and frigidity
of the Antarctic dictate that activities will always be weather dependent and require careful
planning.
Even in the summer months, when the Cold Feat expedition will take place, Antarctic temperatures
are below 0°C and so frost and snow crystals that gather on the surface of the ice sheet do not
melt but accumulate year-by-year.
