Cold Spots of the World, by Continent

Lows in the 10s, 20s and even 30s below zero have been experienced lately fromthe Midwest to the Northeast. So how does this compare to the rest of theworld?Hands down, the coldest of the continents is ice-clad Antarctica, benightedduring the long Southern winter. It is here, high atop the massive ice cap,that the Vostok station registered a low of 128.6 degrees F in 1983.Given that people live in the Antarctic for research, rather than by permanentsettlement, it could be argued that the lowest bona fide temperature is claimedby Asia. The Siberian "pole of cold" has been as cold as -90 F at Verkhoyansk,North America's lowest temperature, -87 F at Northice, was reached in a settingmuch like that of Antarctica, atop the Greenland ice cap. Snag, a settlement inYukon, Canada, near the Alaskan border, has been as cold as -81 F.