Freezing in winter? Think it's too cold around? When thinking about the warm sun, tears come to my eyes? There are places where it’s much, much colder, and yet people somehow exist there. How exactly do they live - in our top 10 coldest cities in the world. For all cities, a temperature winter record is indicated.
10. Harbin, China - minus 38.1 ° C
For the inhabitants of this city, even a harsh winter is a pleasure. Indeed, thanks to her, the International Snow and Ice Festival takes place in Harbin. This is one of the largest ice festivals in the world. Ice sculptures are shown there, bathing in the winter ice hole is organized, and skiing is conducted.
9. Longyearbyen, Norway - minus 46.3 ° C
This settlement, located on the island of Western Svalbard, has one of the strangest bans in the world. You must not be born and die here. Therefore, there is no maternity hospital or cemetery. And the bodies of dead people are transported to the mainland. And Longyearbyen is known for the fact that, at the insistence of the UN, an underground World Seed Repository has been built here. It will come in handy in the event of a global catastrophe.
8. Barrow, United States - minus 47 ° C
Colds come to this American city unexpectedly (almost like Russian public utilities). Yesterday, people quietly drove a car, and today it is already necessary to use snow-removing equipment. Due to such temperature changes, living in Barrow is quite difficult. However, homo sapiens is famous for being able to adapt to almost any conditions.
7. Winnipeg, Canada - minus 47.8 ° C
One of the coldest places on the planet is the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba. The usual January lows there are from minus 20 to minus 22 ° C. And on December 24, 1879, a city temperature record was recorded - minus 47.8 ° C. It must have been an unpleasant day for the townspeople.
6. Yellowknife, Canada - minus 51 ° C
Founded in 1934, Yellowknife is the capital of the northwestern territories of Canada. More than 20,000 people live in it, most of them are involved in the mining industry. The city boasts long and clear winter nights, which provide optimal conditions for viewing the northern lights from mid-November to early April.
5. Dudinka, Russia - minus 61 ° C
One of the northernmost cities in the world regularly faces extreme winter conditions. The average daily minimum temperature in January is minus 33 degrees Celsius.
This city has the world's only ice stadium beyond the Arctic Circle - the Taimyr ice arena.
4. Norilsk, Russia - minus 64 ° C
Norilsk never had a mild climate. In winter, it often happens up to minus 40 degrees. However, in 2014, a new temperature minimum was recorded there - 64 ° C below zero. Interestingly, Norilsk and Murmansk are located at almost the same latitude. However, Murmansk is noticeably warmer.
3. Yakutsk, Russia - minus 64.4 ° C
The first three of the coldest cities on Earth opens the capital of the Republic of Sakha. It is famous for very harsh winter conditions. The most extreme temperatures occur in January, their average value varies from minus 38 ° C to minus 41 ° C. In 1891, a temperature record was recorded with a minus sign (64 ° C below zero).
In addition, the winter season in Yakutsk can begin much earlier than in other cities of the world.
2. Verkhoyansk, Russia - minus 67.7 ° C
Technically, this city can be considered the coldest on Earth, since the leader of our list is the village. There are few inhabitants in Verkhoyansk - 1,131 people as of 2017. And this is understandable, there are few who want to live in a place that bears the title "Pole of Cold in the Northern Hemisphere."
1. Oyyamkon, Russia - minus 71.2 ° C
Here is the answer to the question of what is the coldest place on Earth. The average winter temperature in Oymyakon is minus 50 ° C. And the lowest recorded temperature is amazing -71.2 degrees. True, almost a century separates it from our time; it was measured in 1924. For comparison: in the hottest place in the world, the air warms up to 70 degrees.
Why is Oymyakon the coldest city in the world
The reason is the geographical location of the village, which was unlucky for several reasons. It is located in a river valley surrounded by mountains that form something like a horseshoe. The open top of the arc points north. At night, dense and heavy cold air flows from the mountains and accumulates in the depression where the village is located.
Altitude also plays a role: as a rule, the higher the place, the colder it is. Summer in the village is short, only three months, but hot, with large temperature differences; if during the day it can be plus 30 ° C, then at night the air is cooled to minus.
The irony lies in the very name “Oymyakon”. It comes from the Evenki word meaning non-freezing spring, or the place where the fish hibernates. Near the village there really is a source, because of which, apparently, the locals began to settle here. They quickly got used to low temperatures.
A temperature of -40 ° C is considered cold, but not too much. -25 ° C - unusually warm. Helps to adapt to the cold and the fact that the weather is usually calm - with it it is easier to bear the cold. Locals even say that they prefer to live here, and not where the winters are milder, but windy and humid. They measure the temperature with special thermometers with a mercury-thallium alloy so that the mercury does not freeze. Their maximum minimum temperature is minus 61.1 ° C.
At these temperatures, simple steps like taking a child to kindergarten or school, going to the store turn into a whole quest. Usually, residents of Oymyakon during the “winter” months try to go outside less - just to the grocery store, quickly, quickly, wrapping themselves in a scarf and additionally pressing the mitt to their faces.
But residents of a two-day drive in Yakutsk have to call a taxi, or travel only by personal transport. By the way, frost for Oymyakon children is not an excuse to skip school - it works up to -52 ° C.
What clothes saves from frost in Oymyakon
The locals dress, of course, in furs - the more natural and thicker the better. Fur hats, fur boots (made of leather and deer fur), mittens, and a scarf all over the face to protect the skin from burns. Faux fur is not good at all. In the cold, he quickly becomes worthless, and sometimes literally breaks.
Children are visited to attend kindergarten to such an extent that they are practically unable to move independently - only eyebrows and eyes are visible. Therefore, parents carry them on sledges, and the fur cover that they lay on these sleds is pre-warmed.
Nutrition
In the conditions of permafrost, it is impossible to grow crops, so the locals mainly eat dense protein foods. In the menu, like many centuries ago, among the indigenous peoples of the North, stroganina firmly settled. This is shavings from a frozen piece of meat or fish. And the daily menu most often consists of a thick soup with the same meat or fish. In this climate, locals do not need refrigerators, because everything is stored right outside the window.
Pets
Residents of Oymyakon keep cattle, but in such cold weather they try not to let it out onto the street. In winter, only hardy Yakut horses (they are covered with a long thick six) and dogs are allowed out onto the street. Cows, on the other hand, see white winter light only in case of emergency, and then an udder is specially wrapped in them so as not to freeze.
Utility services
Permafrost, extremely low temperatures and sewage are incompatible, so most of the toilets in Oymyakon are located outside the houses. Oymyakon provides heat with a local coal-fired thermal station. Its condition, as well as central heating in the city of Yakutsk, located two days away, is already being checked in June. Then the pipes are replaced if necessary.
Failures with electricity are the worst thing that can happen in the Far North. If this happens, all Oymyakon people take to the streets and try to burn with the burners the most necessary buildings for the village - a kindergarten, the only store, a canteen. Pipes, so as not to freeze, had to be dug up and heated manually. Fortunately, this happens infrequently.
Transport
There are two ways to get from Yakutsk to Oymyakon - either by car or by air. Aircraft fly only in the warmest time of the year, in the summer, and not more than once a week. Therefore, the main connection with the world is through road transport. The most enduring is the classic UAZ “loaf”, capable of overcoming more than a thousand kilometers of crusty ice and snow highway without any special consequences for itself.
Cars in the Far North require special, careful handling. Drivers often put a woolen blanket on the hood, and another under it to “warm” the engine and electrics. The windows of cars in the north are double, so that they are not covered with ice crust. If the car is outside, it must be kept at idle. It can only be stopped in a heated garage. If you stop the engine outdoors, the battery will freeze instantly and it will be impossible to start the car. Therefore, if suddenly the engine stalls somewhere outside the city, you have to thaw the battery over the fire and, in addition, warm the metal casing under the engine.
Long-distance carriers do not muffle the engines of their iron horses for literally months. Due to the harsh northern conditions, the vast majority of gas stations in the Yakutsk region operate 24 hours a day.
The constantly running engines of cars, the breathing of people and steam from working industrial enterprises create a dense curtain that covers Yakutsk in the coldest time of the year. Sometimes it is so thick that nothing can be seen at ten steps.
Gadgets
It is better not to get small electronics in the Far North on the street, because they instantly turn into a piece of ice. Therefore, the owners keep them in their inner pockets, warming themselves with the warmth of their own body, and get it only in heated rooms. Taking pictures at such subzero temperatures is very difficult.
Sickness and death
Surprisingly, with such extreme cold colds do not happen. Viruses and bacteria just freeze. Freezing something is easy, but catching a cold is not. However, this is not as good as it seems, and if a resident of Oymyakon moves to warmer places, he runs the risk of constantly catching a cold.
The harsh climate is a great test for the human body, so there are almost no long-livers among the inhabitants of the Far North. In addition to extreme temperatures, lack of vitamins and a uniform diet play a role. Eternal winter affects both the beginning and the end of human life - it is impossible to dig a grave in the freezing cold, so if someone from the village dies, the land has to be heated with bonfires.
How do local people themselves feel about this climate?
Autumn in the Far North is the saddest time of the year. The short summer is over, the long and very cold winter lies ahead. However, when it finally comes, and a dull slush is covered with fresh snow, white and clean, the residents of the Yakutsk region seem to be happy with the arrival of cold weather. Complaints are usually caused not by the frost itself, but by the poor work of utilities - if the heating does not work or an accident occurs. Warmth is much more complaints - starting in June, the northerners, accustomed to the cold, begin to complain about the heat.
True, in recent years, residents of Yakutia (those who can afford it) prefer to wait out the winter in warmer places. For example, in Thailand - between Yakutsk and Bangkok a direct flight line was drawn. And their places are occupied by tourists - amazingly, but Oymyakon becomes a popular place among fans to feel the bestial grin of a real cold.
How does cold affect the human body?
- At minus 5 ° C, frost is more invigorating than inconvenient - to protect against it, just put on a warm hat, wrap your throat with a scarf, and you will be warm and comfortable.
- At minus 20 °, moisture in the nasal mucosa begins to freeze, and cold air burns the nasopharynx.
- At minus 35 ° C, frostbite on exposed skin is a very real danger.
- And at minus 45 ° C, only a masochist can wear glasses in a metal frame - the metal sticks to the cheekbones and nose, and you will have to remove the glasses along with pieces of skin.
