Welcome to Bedtime History.
Hello, this is Breck.
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Imagine standing at the bottom of the world where everything is ice as far as your eyes can see.
The wind howls around you, penguins waddle past in groups.
The sun shines all day long without ever setting.
This is Antarctica, the coldest place on our planet.
It's a land so amazing that it seems like it belongs on another planet, but it's right here on Earth waiting for you to learn about it.
Antarctica is the fifth largest continent on Earth.
It sits at the very bottom of the world around the South Pole.
The continent is about the size of the United States and Mexico put together.
That makes it bigger than Europe.
But here is the really amazing part.
Almost all of Antarctica is covered in ice.
In fact, the ice is so thick that, if it all melted, the ocean would rise enough to flood many cities around the world.
Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth.
Scientists once recorded a temperature there that was minus 128 degrees Fahrenheit.
That is so cold that your breath would freeze instantly.
It's so cold that if you threw a cup of hot water into the air, it would turn into snow before it hit the ground.
Antarctica is also the windiest continent.
The winds there can blow faster than a car driving on the highway.
And believe it or not, Antarctica is also the driest continent.
Parts of Antarctica get less rain and snow than the Sahara Desert.
The air is so dry and cold that it's hard for moisture to exist.
The ice in Antarctica tells an amazing story.
Scientists say that Antarctica has been covered by ice for 40 million years.
That means the ice was there long before any humans walked the earth.
The ice formed over millions of years as snow fell and did not melt.
Each year new snow fell on top of old snow.
The weight of all that snow pushed down on the layers below it.
The air got squeezed out of the bottom layers and they turned into solid ice.
This process happened again and again for millions of years until the ice became miles thick.
In some places, the ice in Antarctica is almost three miles deep.
Imagine stacking more than 15 Empire State Buildings on top of each other.
That is how thick the ice is in some spots.
Under all that ice, there is actually land.
Antarctica has mountains and valleys, just like other continents, but they are hidden beneath all the ice.
Scientists use special tools to see through the ice and map what the land looks like underneath.
The ice in Antarctica is always moving.
It flows like a very slow river from the center of the continent toward the ocean.
When the ice reaches the ocean, big chunks break off and float away as icebergs.
Some of these icebergs are enormous.
They can be as big as entire cities.
The ice in Antarctica holds more than two-thirds of all the freshwater on Earth.
That is an incredible amount of water frozen in one place.
For thousands of years, nobody knew Antarctica existed.
It was too far away and too cold for people to reach.
But explorers were curious about what might be at the bottom of the world.
In 1820, explorers finally spotted Antarctica for the first time.
But landing on it and exploring it was much harder.
The early explorers who went to Antarctica were very brave.
They sailed in wooden ships through dangerous, icy waters.
They had no modern equipment to keep them warm.
They had no radios to call for help if something went wrong.
Many of these early expeditions ended in tragedy.
But the explorers kept trying because they wanted to learn about this mysterious, frozen land.
One of the most famous races in history happened in Antarctica.
In 1911, two groups of explorers were racing to be the first people to reach the South Pole.
One group was led by a Norwegian explorer named Roald Amundsen.
The other group was led by a British explorer named Robert Scott.
Both teams were traveling across the ice on foot, pulling sleds full of supplies.
Amundsen and his team reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911.
They planted a Norwegian flag and celebrated their victory.
They had won the race.
About a month later, Scott and his team arrived at the South Pole.
They were disappointed to find that Amundsen had beaten them.
But the worst was yet to come.
On their way back, Scott and his entire team died in the harsh Antarctic weather.
It was a tragedy that shocked the world.
Their story reminds us how dangerous Antarctica can be.
Another famous explorer was Ernest Shackleton.
After the race to the South Pole ended, Shackleton wanted to cross Antarctica from one side to the other.
In 1914, he and his crew sailed toward Antarctica on a ship called the Endurance.
But their ship got trapped in the ice and was slowly crushed.
Shackleton and his men were stuck in Antarctica with no way to call for help.
For months they survived on the ice, eating seals and penguins.
Finally, Shackleton and a few of his men sailed in a tiny boat across 800 miles of stormy ocean to get help.
Amazingly, all of his crew members survived.
Shackleton became a hero because he never gave up and brought all his men home safely.
Today scientists from many countries live and work in Antarctica.
They have built research stations where they can study the ice, the weather, and the animals.
These scientists are learning important things about how Earth's climate is changing.
No country owns Antarctica.
Instead, many countries signed a treaty that says Antarctica should be used only for peaceful scientific research.
This means that Antarctica belongs to everyone and should be protected.
Even though Antarctica is freezing cold, many animals live there.
The most famous Antarctic animals are penguins.
Several different types of penguins live in Antarctica.
Emperor penguins are the biggest.
They can stand almost four feet tall.
These penguins are amazing parents.
The father penguin keeps the egg warm on his feet for two whole months during the coldest part of winter, while the mother goes to find food.
He doesn't eat anything during this time.
When the baby chick hatches, the mother returns and the father finally gets to eat.
Other types of penguins live in Antarctica too.
Adelie penguins have funny white rings around their eyes that make them look surprised.
Chin strap penguins have a black line under their chin that looks like a helmet strap.
Gentoo penguins are the fastest swimmers.
They can zoom through the water as fast as a car driving through a neighborhood.
Penguins cannot fly in the air, but they are excellent swimmers.
They use their wings like flippers to swim underwater.
They eat fish and small shrimp-like creatures called krill.
Seals also live in Antarctica.
There are six different types of seals in Antarctic waters.
Leopard seals are fierce hunters with big teeth.
They eat fish, squid, and even penguins.
Weddell seals can dive very deep and hold their breath for over an hour.
Crab eater seals don't actually eat crabs, they eat krill.
Elephant seals are enormous.
The males can weigh as much as a car.
All these seals have thick layers of fat called blubber that keep them warm in the icy water.
Whales also visit the waters around Antarctica.
Many different types of whales swim in the southern ocean that surrounds Antarctica.
Blue whales, the biggest animals that have ever lived on Earth, feed in Antarctic waters during the summer.
Humpback whales, orcas, and several other types of whales also come to Antarctica.
They come because the water is full of krill.
These tiny creatures exist in huge numbers and provide food for whales seals, penguins and many other animals.
Birds also live in Antarctica.
Besides penguins, there are albatrosses with wings that can stretch 11 feet wide.
There are also petrels, skuas, and terns.
These birds fly over the ocean looking for fish to eat.
Some of them only come to Antarctica during the summer to have their babies.
Life in Antarctica is not easy for animals.
They have to survive the cold, the wind and the long dark winters when the sun does not rise for months.
But these animals have special ways to survive.
Their thick fur, feathers, or blubber keep them warm.
Many of them huddle together in groups to share warmth.
They have adapted to this harsh environment over millions of years.
Antarctica is important for the whole planet.
The ice reflects sunlight back into space, which helps keep Earth from getting too hot.
The cold water that forms around Antarctica flows through all the world's oceans and helps control the temperature of our planet.
Scientists studying Antarctica are learning about climate change and how it might affect the rest of the world.
Antarctica is a place of wonder and mystery.
It's a land of ice and snow where brave explorers once raced to reach the South Pole.
It's home to penguins, seals and whales that have learned to survive in one of Earth's harshest environments.
Antarctica is a continent that belongs to no one and everyone at the same time.
Antarctica reminds us that our planet still has wild and beautiful places worth protecting.
Maybe someday you will get to see this frozen wonderland for yourself.
Until then, remember that at the very bottom of the world, there is a continent of ice waiting to share its secrets with those who are curious and brave enough to explore it.
