Temperature record in Antarctica – nearly 40 degrees above normal

A heat wave has swept across both the North and South poles this week and researchers around the world have been shocked.

– The polar researcher said that this had not happened before and contradicted all our expectations regarding the climate in Antarctica Jonathan Willie From Grenoble Alpes University to the Washington Post this week.

40 degrees warmer than usual

At the Franco-Italian station of Concordia in Antarctica, at an altitude of 3,234 meters, the temperature was measured at -12.2 degrees on Friday. It’s about 40 degrees warmer than usual.

At Russia’s Vostok station in Antarctica, which is closer to the South Pole and at a higher altitude, a new heat record of minus 17.7 degrees was broken this week, about 15 degrees warmer than the previous heat record at the site, according to The Guardian. British. Maximiliano Herrera Weather Service specializes in severe weather.

Vostok Station became famous when, in the summer of 1983, it recorded the lowest temperature ever measured in the world at -89.2 degrees.

At the coastal base of Terra Nova in Antarctica, which is currently entering the fall season, the temperature this week was over 7 degrees.

Temperatures around the North Pole, at the North Pole, are approaching zero at the same time, which is very unusual for this season, according to the glacier researcher. Walt Meyer.

The seasons are opposite. The North and South Poles should not melt at the same time: it is certainly an unusual event. It’s very shocking, Meyer tells AP.

low sea ice

At the end of February, for the first time since 1979, the volume of Antarctic sea ice had fallen to less than two million square kilometers, says the NSIDC.

It would be hard to claim there is no climate change fingerprint in an event like this, says Wylie.

But neither Wille, Lazzara and Meier are currently making any direct link between the unusually high temperatures during the week and climate change.

According to Will, the heat wave in Antarctica was caused by unusual atmospheric phenomena — a narrow corridor of heat and moisture — which, among other things, led to torrential rainstorms. This weather system—which happens occasionally and usually passes fairly quickly—must have been held back in a position across the continent by new high pressure.