The Eisriesenwelt (German for "World of the Ice Giants") is a natural limestone ice cave located in Werfen, Austria, about 40 km south of Salzburg. It is the largest ice cave in the world extending more than 42km. Eisriesenwelt Cave was created by the Salzach river as it flowed through the mountain eroding passageways nearly 100 million years ago. Over the course of thousands of years cracks and crevices in the limestone became more developed as water eroded the rocks away. In winter, when the air inside the mountain is warmer than outside, cold air streams into the mountain and reduces the temperature of the lower areas of the caves to below freezing point. In spring the water from melting snow seeps through the cracks in the rock and when it reaches the colder lower areas of the caves it freezes and turns slowly into the wonderful ice formations visible inside the caves. Although the cave has a length of 42 km, only the first kilometer, the area that tourists are allowed ...
In northern Japan, in the province of Nagano, snow stays up to four months at a stretch. The average winter temperature here is -5 ° C, sometimes dropping to -15 ° C. Living at such extreme temperatures are the Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys. Thankfully for them, hot water springs are close at hand where the monkeys spend most of day to fight the biting cold.
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