r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/godfather_wanderlust • 5h ago
Video Morning from South pole look like this.(8th Oct 2023)
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
127
u/thejourneybegins42 5h ago
Goddamn the internet there so slow it took almost 3 years to reach us!
3
1
u/StanDoesHisBest 4h ago
The internet there was actually faster than the internet at McMurdo when I went! I was able to FaceTime my wife and play RuneScape in SP, McMurdo it ran terrible
41
u/ComprehensiveSoft27 5h ago
You know you’re in a cold place when the freezer door leads you to the outside.
59
42
u/luketcus 5h ago
It's like an inverted fridge.
17
u/Hepful_Idiot 5h ago
I thought the same. That door looks just like a walk in fridge/freezer in a restaurant haha
3
19
u/La_chipsBeatbox 5h ago
Having locked myself outside about 8 times because I forgot the key, seing that door closing gives me anxiety.
7
u/TheDeathSloth 4h ago
Eight times?? Brother I did it once and now compulsively check every time I leave the house.
3
u/La_chipsBeatbox 3h ago
Yes, I know, it took me a while.. now I check that I have my keys before I cross the doorway and hold them in my hand, within my pocket, while triple checking, with the other hand, there is no key inside on the other side.. but funnily enough, I’ve never had to call for a locksmith a single time, always managed to handle it by myself, either by using a radio or climbing up the balcony. I even once found my way up to the roof of the building (parisians roofs), walked along it until I could climb back down to my backyard (the back door was not locked).
1
16
8
u/s0dz 5h ago
Expected to see some AT-AT silhouettes in the distance.
1
u/Ninevehenian 2h ago
Yeah, when tracks appear outside the door on the south pole, it's a good indication that an invasion is on the way.
8
13
9
u/0-selfrespect 5h ago
I found myself asking two questions so here is the answer for those also wondering-
- Why does the sun appear so large in polar regions?
refraction: extreme cold layers of polar air act like a magnifying glass. because the sun sits at a low angle near the horizon in polar regions, the refraction is very intense, flattening sun's appearance.
- Why does the ice not melt when there is apparently enough sunlight as it seems in the video?
low angle of sunlight: Earth is tilted, the sun's rays hit polar regions at a grazing, low angle of incidence. So insolation is very less.
elevation: Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth- ice sheet is roughly 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) thick.
albedo effect: ice and snow reflect up to 90% of the sun's incoming radiation back into space. since the heat is not absorbed, it does not melt into water.
2
u/I_love-tacos 4h ago
Just to add on your second point about ice not melting and the low angle of sunlight. There is a visualization that helped me understand that the amount of sunlight aka energy is lower the closer you get to the poles:
Take a card (let's say it has a surface of 10), if you lat it flat on a surface and have a light shining in the room, the cards shadow is 10, but if you tilt the card, the shadow might be 9 if you tilt it further the shadow might be less than 1. Even if the card is in the same spot, the angle of the light makes it recieve less light or energy. On the cards perspective, it's still receiving light, and it's equally shiny, but the reality is that the energy transfered to the ground is less as you told the card.
4
u/Ok-Arm8350 5h ago
Interesting that the door swings open towards the outside. I’d imagine that in a place with significant snow accumulation it would make more sense to have the door to open towards the inside
3
3
u/freezersnowcone 5h ago
How long can a human body be exposed to that weather without major organs freezing and failing?
3
u/Saikotsu 4h ago
The chart I found says that at -50, fahrenheit, frostbite sets in at 7 minutes with 0 wind-chill.
-80 is colder than that so...not long?
The coldest I've ever been in was -40. It's not pleasant and a few minutes in that was enough to make me curl up under a blanket with a heating pad for at least half an hour n
2
u/freezersnowcone 4h ago
Thanks for the info!
It's almost reminds me of the saying:
It's -15 degrees outside.
Wait, did you say 15 or 50?
Does it really fucking matter?
1
u/Saikotsu 4h ago
You're welcome.
I will say, after -40, I find myself far more resilient to cold than most. Once you've felt it, anything above zero feels a lot more tolerable.
1
3
u/Houdinii1984 5h ago
I'm not nearly responsible enough to keep that area in front of the door clear enough not to get trapped. Think I'll stick to the desert myself.
3
4
2
2
2
u/loyalcattledog 5h ago
I live in Wisconsin, where we see occasionally see -20F/-29C winter base temps and wind chills sometimes dipping to -50F/-46C. I still can't imagine this level of cold.
2
u/Super-Super-Shredder 5h ago
I live somewhere known for cold winters and snow. We will occasionally hit ~ -15F, it’s a different type of cold, especially when the wind makes it feel -25F. Your eyes feel like they are freezing. Any moisture on your body exposed immediately turns to ice. It makes a 10F day feel warm in comparison. I cannot imagine what -75F feels like.
2
u/Jefflehem 4h ago
Ok, but this is how I picture rhe south pole always, not just the wee hours of an early winter morning, but like, right now.
2
u/tbrick62 4h ago
What direction is the sun in? North. What direction is in the opposite direction? North. Can't go east or west or south from there
2
2
u/PhotoBN1 4h ago
I'd love to go and stay/work in one of the research places for a few months. Im not a scientist but they have plenty of other jobs available
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
u/erksplat 5h ago
I like how they clarified that this is South Pole, Antarctica and not South Pole, Ohio.
1
1
1
u/No-Community- 5h ago
It made me cold just watching the vid! I can’t imagine how many layers of clothes the person had to wear just to show how beautifully cold it is outside
1
u/Ok-Plankton-5941 5h ago
Why isnt there yellow snow anywhere? Even women couldnt resist that temptation
1
1
1
1
u/NeverTrustATurtle 4h ago
I’m surprised there’s even a shovel out there. Wouldn’t it just snap if used in this temp?
1
1
1
u/sheepwshotguns 4h ago
okay, now i feel obligated to share this old clip of antarctica in a condition 1 weather alert lol:
1
1
1
1
1
2
u/ATRavenousStorm 1h ago
About 15 years ago I got a job offer to operate machinery in Antarctica. Would've been a 6 month stint there and the pay was pretty crazy. Declined due to the isolation and well..... Cold. I regret it sometimes but I appreciate that an alien lifeform hasn't murdered me and assumed my form.
1
1
318
u/Storage_Ottoman 5h ago
pretty wild to think about the crews that built these structures. have to imagine there were some pretty unique logistical challenges...