How Cold Can You Go?

Flame proof suit?  Check.

Protective headgear?  Check.

Fire retardant gloves?  Check.

Fire proof boots?  Check.

All checks completed for today’s post.

Yesterday it was bitterly cold in Pasadena…it got down to 41 degrees F!  I mean really!  (now you know the reason for the equipment…let the flaming posts start!)

But even as I was freezing (cue the flaming trebuchet launchers!), I wondered where was it actually cold.  Having grown up in Colorado I have experienced some very cold temperatures.  My family once had to leave a hotel we were staying at near Gunnison Colorado because the water heater supplying the radiators to heat the rooms froze.  No matter how many blankets you had it was cold!

But where is the coldest spot on Earth?

  Credit: Ted Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Turns out, not surprisingly, it is in Antarctica, where the temperature was a balmy minus 136 F (minus 93.2 C).

This is so cold that regular thermometers that use mercury or alcohol would freeze.  That’s pretty awesome if you think about it.

So as I was suffering through my one day of freezing temperatures, it of course will be around 80 degrees F this weekend (whoa, that was a close one, I almost got burned), I am just glad that I don’t have to try and survive in those temperatures.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman