Climate of Antarctica

The continent is also extremely dry (it is a desert[1]), averaging 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year.

Most of Antarctica has an ice-cap climate (Köppen classification EF) with extremely cold and dry weather.

[2][5] For comparison, this is 10.7 °C (19.3 °F) colder than subliming dry ice (at sea level pressure).

Satellite measurements have identified even lower ground temperatures, with −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) having been observed at the cloud-free East Antarctic Plateau on 10 August 2010.

The total precipitation on Antarctica, averaged over the entire continent, is about 166 millimetres (6.5 inches) per year (Vaughan et al., J.

The actual rates vary widely, from high values over the Peninsula (380 to 640 millimetres (15 to 25 inches) a year) to very low values (as little as 50 millimetres (2.0 inches) in the high interior (Bromwich, Reviews of Geophysics, 1988).

Areas that receive less than 250 millimetres (9.8 inches) of precipitation per year are classified as deserts.

[17] Note that the quoted precipitation is a measure of its equivalence to water, rather than being the actual depth of snow.

If all the land-ice covering Antarctica were to melt — around 30×10^6 km3 (7.2×10^6 cu mi) of ice — the seas would rise by over 60 m (200 ft).

[22] The Antarctic is so cold that even with increases of a few degrees, temperatures would generally remain below the melting point of ice.

This would increase the amount of ice in Antarctica, offsetting approximately one third of the expected sea level rise from thermal expansion of the oceans.

1 The total ice volume is different from the sum of the component parts because individual figures have been rounded.