The coldest place on Earth is even colder than we thought: Antarctic temps hit 144 degrees below zero

The world's coldest place is even colder than previously thought, scientists reported this week in a new study.

Temperatures in one region in Antarctica can drop as low as 144 degrees below zero during the southern polar night, mostly during July and August, the study found. The readings were not official measurements made with an actual thermometer, but were estimates made by instruments aboard an orbiting satellite.

Previously, scientists had thought that temperatures there could "only" drop to about 135 below.

The region studied, the East Antarctic Plateau, is so cold because of its high elevation and its proximity to the South Pole. It's the coldest climate of any region on Earth.

The lowest air temperature ever measured on the planet Earth by an official weather instrument, 128.6 degrees below zero, was recorded in that area, at what was then the Soviet Union's Vostok Station in July 1983.

"In this area, we see periods of incredibly dry air, and this allows the heat from the surface of the snow to radiate into space more easily," said Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and lead author of the new study.

Temperatures of 144 degrees below zero are about as cold as it is possible to get at Earth’s surface, according to the researchers. For the temperature to drop that low, clear skies and dry air need to persist for several days. Temperatures could drop a little lower if the conditions lasted for several weeks, but that’s extremely unlikely to happen, Scambos said.

The study appeared in in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

WPXI