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Colorado Seasonal

There Is A Place In Colorado That Is As Cold As Antarctica

By Annie | Published January 22, 2019

Coloradans have been pretty lucky so far this winter, as the weather has been extremely mild and temperatures are not dipping nearly as low as usual. While we enjoy the 40s and 50s, however, there is one little-known spot in Colorado that is as cold as Antarctica… and wait until you see why:

Located in Lakewood is the National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility, which is also known as the Ice Core Lab.

Managed by the United States Geological Survey and partially funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Ice Core Lab is responsible for curating and studying ice cores from glacial regions around the world.

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Just where are these samples collected? Most come from Greenland and Antarctica, with some of the samples dating back 130,000 to 800,000 years (in Greenland and Antarctica, respectively).

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Why does the National Ice Core Lab collect these samples? Believe it or not, the ice can give vital information about the earth, including the history of the climate and environmental data from eons ago.

Once the ice is collected, it is stored in aluminum-lined cardboard tubes and set in a warehouse with a frigid temperature of -36°C!

In addition to providing these samples to scientists and various researchers, the Ice Core Lab also offers public tours and special events, so make sure to visit their website for dates and times.

The National Ice Core Laboratory is located at Federal Center Building 810 in Lakewood and is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For even more cold weather fun, take a ride on The Winter Coaster In Colorado That Will Take You Through A Snowy Mountain Wonderland!

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