Please note that final assignment is subject to the student qualifying for FWS Placement. If a student is allowed to work without having a FWS Referral Form signed by all parties and on file in this office, your department will be responsible for compensating the student.
Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland. Only cold-adapted organisms survive there, including many types of algae, animals (for example mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades), bacteria, fungi, plants, and protista.
The Antarctic is the world's largest and coldest desert, since a desert is defined as an area receiving less than 250 mm or 10 inches of precipitation per year. The Antarctic desert covers 13.9 million square kilometres. The coldest temperature ever reached in Antarctica was -89Â°C (-129Â°F) on 21 July 1983 at Vostok Station.