I’ve seen a handful of news outlets reporting that Chicago, Minneapolis and International Falls are “Colder than Antarctica!” and “Colder than Mars!”
I’m not making this up, either. As if exclaiming that the “Polar Vortex is back with a vengeance” wasn’t bad enough…
I get it. It is cold.
But preying on people’s misunderstanding is cheap. And a bit shady.
Reminder: How Earth works
Everyone remembers that the Earth is tilted on an axis. But sometimes it is easy to forget what that may mean for places Other than the United States.
The Earth is tilted on its axis, and because of that parts of the Earth receive more sunlight than other parts at different times of the year. For example, when the north pole is tilted toward the sun, the northern hemisphere experiences “summer” because the northern hemisphere is slightly closer to the Sun.
When the south pole is tilted toward the sun, the southern hemisphere experiences “summer” for the same reason.
That also means that the opposite hemisphere is experiencing winter.
So, when it is super cold during winter in, say, North America, it is actually quite warm in, say, Australia. In fact, right now Australia is experiencing one of its worst heat waves in recent memory. There are area of the continent dealing with temperatures well over 100.
It also means Antarctica is experiencing summer, too.
And, in general, summer is warmer than winter.
What is it like in Antarctica right now
Much like the United States, it depends on where you go. Sure, there are cold places in Antarctica right now. But there are also places where it is reasonable.
Casey Research Station is located about 2,300 miles south of Melbourne, Australia on the Antarctic continent. Notice the temperature. Converting it back from Celsius to Fahrenheit will likely give you a number much higher than Chicago (as of this writing).
But What about Mars?
Saying it is colder than Mars sounds pretty amazing. But not as amazing as you may think. Mars, a lot like Earth, has pretty dramatic temperature swings depending on where you are. And yeah, according to NASA, the average temperature is -81F.
But Chicago is a few degrees below zero right now. So the average temperature on Mars is definitely colder.
But, since we do have rovers on Mars, we can check out what the temperature is there…
Sol 2301 (2019-01-26), high -17C/1F, low -73C/-99F, pressure at 8.17 hPa, daylight 06:46-18:54
— Mars Weather (@MarsWxReport) January 29, 2019
While it got up to 1F for a high temperature, look at the low! It was -99F!
So while, sure Chicago was colder than Mars at one point… Mars still wins.
So it’s a lie?
I wouldn’t call it lying, but it is – a bit – misleading. Making a claim that somewhere experiencing winter is colder than another place experiencing summer isn’t lying. But if you prey on people’s lack of understanding about that to make money, it is a cheap trick. And a bit… shady.
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