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A 3D visualization of ice covering Antarctica.
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Which Pole Is Colder?

The South Pole is a lot colder than the North Pole.

A medal award ceremony for the coldest pole competition. At the top is a blue banner that reads “Coldest Pole Competition.” There is a blue podium with two heights. At a lower height on the blue podium is a white polar bear with a silver medal hanging around its neck by a red ribbon. At a higher height on the blue podium is a black and white penguin with a gold medal hanging around its neck by a red ribbon. Below the polar bear on the podium is the label “Arctic North Pole.” Below the penguin on the podium is the label “Antarctic South Pole” along with a yellow sun-shaped sticker with black writing on it that says “1st.” There is a light blue sky in the background. This is a gray and white ground behind and below the podium.
In the competition for Earth’s coldest pole, the South Pole in Antarctica wins. The South Pole is found over icy land, rather than over sea ice, helping to make it colder.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Both the North and South Pole are very cold because they get very little direct sunlight throughout the year. This has to do with where the poles are located on the sphere-shaped Earth. The North Pole is at the top, and the South Pole is at the bottom.

At both poles, the Sun is always low on the horizon. This helps keep the poles cold even in the summer when the Sun is up all day. In winter, the Sun is so far below the horizon that it doesn't come up for months at a time. So the days are just like the nights — cold and dark.

Even though the North Pole and South Pole are at opposite ends of the planet, they both get the same amount of sunlight over the year. But take a look at this table of temperatures. What do you see?

Average temperature

North PoleSouth Pole
Summer32° F (0° C)−18° F (−28.2° C)
Winter−40° F (−40° C)−76° F (−60° C)

That’s right! The South Pole is a lot colder than the North Pole in both seasons. Why? Well, the poles are “polar opposites” in more than one way. Let’s compare.

What Makes the North Pole Really Cold?

The North Pole sits in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean and the land around it make up the Arctic region.

A circular-shaped view of Earth with the North Pole at the center of the circle as a map. There is a black dot in the center labeled “North Pole.” Further out from the North Pole is a dashed white line labeled “Arctic Circle.” Even further out is a grid of white lines that represent latitude and longitudes on the map. Water is noted as a light blue color and land not covered in ice is a green color. Inside the Arctic Circle in the middle of the map, it is mainly colored white to show sea ice and the land ice of Greenland. Starting at the top and moving clockwise, the Pacific Ocean is labeled, then the landmasses of Asia and Europe. Africa’s landmass is labeled slightly below Europe and is not fully visible. Then the Atlantic Ocean is labeled followed by North America’s landmass.
A map of Earth while looking down on the North Pole. The white are areas are places normally covered in ice. In the Arctic, there is sea ice over the ocean. There is also land ice over Greenland.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

It’s cold enough that most of the Arctic Ocean is covered in ice, known as sea ice, for much of the year. That means that the North Pole sits in the middle of sea ice. Since sea ice floats over water, it behaves differently than ice over land. That is because the parts of the ocean that are not covered in ice help warm the air. Plus, the temperature of the water below the sea ice changes. Both limit how thick the sea ice can grow.

NASA and its partners have measured Arctic sea ice since 1979. Currently, the ICESat-2, or Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2, uses a laser in space to help measure ice height and thickness around the world. 

This and other satellites have tracked changes in Arctic sea ice, including when it grows and shrinks every year.

What Makes the South Pole Really, Really Cold?

Heading to the South Pole, we find the opposite. Now we have land surrounded by ocean.

A circular-shaped view of Earth with the South Pole at the center of the circle as a map. There is a black dot in the center labeled “South Pole.” Further out from the South Pole is a dashed white line labeled “Antarctic Circle.” Even further out is a grid of white lines that represent latitude and longitudes on the map. Water is noted as a light blue color, and land not covered in ice is a green color. Inside the Antarctic Circle in the middle of the map, is the landmass of Antarctica which is colored white to show land ice. Starting at the top and moving clockwise, the Atlantic Ocean is labeled, then the bottom tip of Africa. The Indian Ocean is labeled next, followed by the landmass island of Australia. Then the Pacific Ocean is labeled, followed by the bottom half of South America’s landmass.
A map of Earth while looking down on the South Pole. The white areas are land covered in ice.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

The continent of Antarctica is high and dry. The ice in Antarctica is super thick — up to 3 miles (5 kilometers)! This ice sheet forms a huge plateau — a flat surface like a tabletop — that stands high above sea level. ICESat-2 also tracks the height and thickness of ice in Antarctica. 

Antarctica's ice and snow also sits on top of mountains that are very tall and rise high above sea level. Just like mountains in other parts of the world, the higher you climb in Antarctica, the colder the air gets.

A textured view of part of the Antarctica continent colored white with a gray and black background. The edges of the continent are higher than the gray background, which represents the ocean floor. The continent is curved to follow the curve of Earth, but the visible parts use light gray shadows to show shading of the high mountain edges to make it look 3D.
This 3D topographical view of Antarctica gives an idea of its high elevations and mountains with ice that covers them. A topographical map shows the elevation and other features of a land surface in greater detail.
NASA

Another reason that the South Pole is so much colder than the North Pole is because of the strength of the winds blowing around it. Antarctica is surrounded by water on all sides. So, the ocean waters and winds swirling around it are not blocked by anything, allowing the winds to become very strong.

These winds can stop the warmer air from warmer places — north of Antarctica, like Africa and South America — from mixing with the cold, polar air. This helps Antarctica get cold and stay cold. 

Winds also blow around the North Pole and Arctic, but they are not as strong most of the time. This is because there is land around the Arctic Ocean that can slow down winds as they travel around the Arctic. Because of this, warmer air from the south is able to mix with polar air sometimes. This is another reason why the Arctic is warmer.

The Arctic may be warmer, but it’s still cold. So, whether you’re planning a trip to see polar bears in the Arctic, or penguins in Antarctica, be sure to bundle up. And maybe go when it’s summer.

Related NASA Missions

ICESat-2 icon

ICESat-2

The Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 mission measures the thickness of ice sheets and sea ice, and tree canopy heights.

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