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Did you know?
Antarctica is actually a desert, receiving about the same precipitation (less than 2 inches a year), as the Sahara Desert.
Dogs have been banned from Antarctica to protect the seal population.
If Antarctica were to melt, the sea level would rise over 200 feet.
The world's record low temperature of -128.5° F was recorded in Antarctica.
The coasts of Antarctica are some of the windiest places in the world, with gusts reaching nearly 200 miles per hour.
Antarctica represents about 9 percent of Earth's continental crust and has been in a near-polar position for more than 100 million years.
The Adelie penguin was named after Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont d'Urville's wife. D'Urville was the first man to set foot in Antarctica.
The temperature in Antarctica once dropped 65° F in 12 minutes.
Because of the extremely cold temperatures and low absolute humidity, dry skin and cracked lips are continual problems in Antarctica. Visitors must drink frequently to replace the water they exhale with every breath.
The Land of the Midnight Sun exists in the south, too: during the summer, the interior of Antarctica enjoys almost continuous daylight.
As sea ice gets older it becomes considerably stronger. In first-year sea ice, most of the salts remain in tiny pockets that prevent a more rigid crystalline ice structure from forming. As the ice ages, the salts slowly leach out, leaving a much stronger crystal.