Yakutsk city
- Temperatures plunged to minus 50 degrees Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit) recently in Russia’s Yakutsk during an abnormally long cold snap in the Siberian city known as the coldest on earth.
About Yakutsk city:
- Yakutsk city is located 5,000 km (3,100 miles) east of Moscow on the permafrost of the Russian Far East.
- Yakutsk is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia.
- The city is about 450 km to the south of the Arctic Circle.
- The temperature often drops below minus 40.
- While Yakutsk holds the record as the world’s coldest city, it is also the one with the greatest variation in temperature.
What is permafrost?
- Permafrost is any ground that remains completely frozen—32°F (0°C) or colder—for at least two years straight.
- Permafrost is made of a combination of soil, rocks and sand that are held together by ice.
- The soil and ice in permafrost stay frozen all year long.
- Permafrost can be found on land and below the ocean floor.