A northern Alaskan town experiences a 66 day dark period. If you are a person who likes the night and the cold, you might want to consider spending your winters there.
Utqiagvik, Alaskaformerly known as Wheelbarrow, is a small town of about 4,500 people, located about 600 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Here, for almost two months, the sky remains in extreme darkness.
Location of Utqiagvik, Alaska (USA)
Although Utqiaġvik is not the only city to experience this phenomenon, it is first on the list of polar night places because some places near the polar Circle And AntarcticAt a certain time of the year, they have fewer hours of sunshine.
Utqiaġvik is considered a sister city of Ushuaia, Argentina, and Puerto Williams, Chileboth located at the other end.
Why are there two months of darkness in Utqiaġvik?
The explanation is quite simple. The Earth’s tilt axis does not allow the Sun to look far enough over the horizon, so darkness sometimes persists for more than 24 hours. This curious phenomenon is known as polar night.
But that’s not all, in addition, this city is considered one of the places with the most extreme temperatures on the whole planet; because it has an extremely cold climate. Its temperatures range between -5°C and -22°C.
How do its inhabitants manage this phenomenon?
Utqiaġvik, east populated mainly by native iñupiat. Its inhabitants are already accustomed to this event and every year they prepare for it. They stock up on the food and resources needed to survive the whole season well in advance, including vitamin D supplements. .
Every year, this Alaskan town doesn’t see the sun for more than 2 months.
Although there won’t be an official sunrise for more than two months, it doesn’t necessarily have to be completely dark all the time. At its brightest, however, it will look like dusk at night as it approaches the Sun, but never rises above the horizon.
However, if one of the Iñupiat lacks too much sun, after the winter comes a great compensation, because in the hot season the opposite happens. The northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, so the sun won’t set for two months. This is also known as “polar day” either “midnight ‘Sun”when natural light is visible for more than 24 hours.
Certainly a city with natural phenomena that most of us are not used to seeing and that makes it very interesting.
References: Fox News / La Nación.
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