Two views looking at the south pole with a temperature color gradient overlay. The temperatures start at -75 and increase to equal or more than -35 Celsius ranging from a deep purple to a bright orange white color. The left image shows the temperature gradient evenly shifting warmer as you move away from the pole. On the right the cold temperatures are a elongated significantly toward the top and bottom of the image, but is very narrow, with warmer temperatures closer to the pole than on the left.

A Series of Rare Disturbances in the Stratosphere

The polar vortex elongated and weakened over Antarctica, causing rare warming events. View the full story

Credits: NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang

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Earth Observatory Image of the Day

Image CreditNASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang

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