Deadliest Places on Earth: Arctic Anomalies, Vostok, Antarctica

Arctic Anomalies:
Vostok, Antarctica.

Misbehavior, paranormal activity, government conspiracies, abduction, murder, and drought are not words that often come to mind when describing Antarctica—the coldest, windiest, highest, and driest continent on the planet.

Antarctica, the largest desert on Earth, receives an average of 6.5 inches a year while other parts, such as Dry Valleys hasn’t seen rain in over 2 million years.

Catabian winds up to 200 miles per hour, strips the landscape, and causes violent snowstorms that can last days, even weeks, making survival outdoors impossible.

The coldest place on Earth is an East Antarctic Plateau between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji, where temperatures have been recorded as low as -136 F (-93.2 C). Previously, the coldest temperature was recorded at the Russian Vostok Research Station in East Antarctica at -128.6 F (-89.2 C).

From the effects of climate change, the European Space Agency declares, “The loss of ice from West Antarctica between 2009 and 2012 caused a dip in the gravity field over the region.”

Due to climate shift, billions of tons of melting the ice over the years have had implications in the Antarctic in fundamental ways. Antarctic glaciers have begun an unstoppable collapse that is prognosticated to cause a 4.5-foot rise in sea levels by the year 2100.

Despite what some websites report, Antarctica is actually habituated year-round. Some governments maintain permanent research stations widely distributed throughout the continent with approximately 4,000 residents during the summer season and 1,000 during the winter.

Villa Las Estrellas, the largest permanent town in Antarctica, has over a dozen homes, a bank, post office, schools, a gym, a church, and a gift shop. Snowmobile excursions, ski expeditions, and whale watching are just some Antarctic activities tourists can expect to enjoy. Just don’t expect any dog sledding because the Antarctic treaty, signed by over 53 nations, banned the use of sled dogs in 1993.

Tourists should be warned to spend cash as well because there are only two ATM’s on the entire continent. Need someone to wire you money? Mind the hour because Antarctica has no time zone.

The southernmost volcano is the super-active volcano, Mount Erebus, located on an island home to three other inactive volcanoes, Mount Bird, Mount Terra Nova, and Mount Terror.

For 1.3 million years, Mount Erebus has been active and shows no signs of dormancy. The summit contains a persistent convecting pholithic lava lake, one of five long-lasting lava lakes on Earth. This volcano doesn’t erupt hot lava, but Erebus crystals, a type of feldspar made of aluminum silicate.

Volcanoes, giant fissures, rising waters, isolation, and extreme weather are not the only dangers on this desolate landscape. An unsolved death, assault with deadly weapons, alcohol-fueled quarrels is quite the rap sheet for a continent where almost nobody lives.

Claustrophobia, exposure to dangerous weather, social isolation, a lack of communication with the outside world combined with a high workload, most people are prone to global alterations that cause harmful psychophysiological alterations.

Depressive symptomatology, sleep disturbances, cognitive impairment, irritability and interpersonal conflicts, social withdrawal, and fatigue have been reported frequently since the first studies were performed in Polar Regions. (Mullin, 1960; Nelson, 1963; Palmai, 1963).

The cold weather even affects hormone levels causing people to act in uncharacteristic ways like the American cook who, in 1996, attacked a co-worker with a hammer.

Antarctica also happens to be a source of paranormal interest.

Although the Internet is full of information claiming that American astronaut, Buzz Aldrin wrote and deleted a tweet claiming that humanity was in danger from a mysterious “it” that he described as “evil itself.” This statement was, of course, a hoax, but what about the other paranormal and supernatural phenomena?

Pegasus Field is a hotly debated UFO conspiracy topic online. Although people say the southernmost of the three airfields serving the American-owned McMurdo station is the site of a UFO crash, it is most likely the site of a C-121 Lockheed Constellation, still visible after crash landing in the snow in October 1970.

No evidence has suggested that a native civilization has ever existed on Antarctica, but rumors suggest that there might be a hidden city frozen underneath the ice and snow. Some even claim it could be Atlantis.

Antarctica, the most barren continent on Earth once had a Mediterranean-like climate with warm to hot dry summers and mild, moderately wet winters. While the notion of a half-god half-human civilization existing on Earth is doubtful, scientists speculate the existence of civilization in Antarctica, even if it is only currently inhabited by deep-sea fish and bacteria.

Theories of Antarctic civilization range from ancient cities that Hitler invaded to use as a secret Nazi base, a city home to the Illuminati, and entire alien civilizations living in technologically advanced compounds beneath the surface layer of ice are only just a few legends that surround the most mysterious continent on Earth.

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Wow! Just. Wow.

I tried to provide as much information about Antarctica's weirdness as I could, but there was so much weirdness that I had to stop myself from letting it get too long.

It's almost like each of these subtopics are the opening ideas to an entire book.

Once, the film school I graduated from took their documentary filmmaking class to Antarctica, but I was an underclassman then and international class trips were only for the upperclassmen who took the documentary filmmaking course. One of the photos I saw was of them shivering in their underwear standing on a "beach" in Antarctica. A dramatic snapshot captured the image of one of them, a wild will-do-anything, hunky guy doing a flip into the iceberg-filled waters.

I never had the desire to travel to Antarctica before, and even if I did, watching the upperclassmen freeze in their underwear, snuffed it out like a frigid wind blowing out a match. . . It wasn't until I researched and wrote this article that Antarctica moved up on my list.

What do you think? Would you visit one of these communities in Antarctica like Mount Terror, Vostok, or Villa Las Estrellas?

Mount Terror, well, that sound's ever so pleasant.

I think I would, how about you?

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Take care my ghoulies, and have a haunted weekend!