As global warming pushes temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit across parts of the United States and Europe, temperatures spiked to 120 degrees in some parts of the Middle East. At the other end of the spectrum, one place on Earth posted the lowest temperature on record. It dropped to −128.6 on July 21, 1983, in Vostok, Antarctica. (These are the worst cities to live in as climate change worsens.)
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Vostok is a Russian research station located 800 miles from the geographic South Pole. It is also over 11,000 feet above sea level, which adds to the factors that make cold weather more likely. The location also gets very little snow, so it has been described as one of the driest places in the world.

Established in 1957, the station houses as many as 30 people, mostly scientists.

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In December, the Vostok gets over 708 hours of daylight, a world record for any month. It gets virtually no sunshine in May, June, July and August. The average low temperature is below −90 degrees from April through September.

The wind is also a temperature factor. The temperature with wind speed factored in dropped to −200 degrees on August 24, 2005.

The station was considered in disrepair a decade ago. The construction of a new one began last year.

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