With the very cold temperatures those of us living in the U.S. suffered through about 2 weeks ago, you may have heard many "witty" phrases used by reporters to describe how cold it actually was. One phrase that made headlines was "it's colder than Mars". Sigh.
Technically this is a true statement, but is is very, very misleading. According to NASA, the temperature of Mars varies widely with highs near 70 F at the equator on the Martian surface. Lows reach -225 F during winter at the poles. Average temps are between -50 and -60 degrees F at mid latitudes. More Martian stats can be found at:
Martian Statistics
The problem here is that we are comparing apples to oranges. If we are going to make a true comparison, then we need to compare lows to lows. Doing so, the cold temps we recently experienced in the U.S. are nowhere near as cold as low temps on Mars.
As a matter of fact, given that the highs on Mars can reach 70 F at certain times of the year and at certain locations, one could say that EVERY day on Earth there is a location with temps colder than Mars.
I'm glad the reporters thought they were witty in saying that "it's colder than Mars", but frankly they sound like someone who did no research at all. Don't let this be your kids. The more fantastic a claim seems, the greater the likelihood that said claim is very misleading. Teach your kids to do their research and be prepared!
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