Not to be alarmist or anything, but things are heating up in Antarctica, and I don’t mean things are getting exciting. They’re getting literally quite hot. Way too hot for a place that’s supposed to be among the coldest on Earth.
As reported by The Guardian, and, more importantly, climate researchers working on the Antarctic Peninsula, temperatures at Argentina’s Esperanza research station reached 59.7°F (15.4°C) on June 6, wrecking the previous winter record by more than 3 degrees Fahrenheit. That is unusual, to say the least.
Scientists say the temperature spike was roughly 36°F above normal for this time of year. The heatwave was so steadfast that temperatures stayed above freezing for three consecutive weeks. These record-breaking highs were also reported by research stations across Antarctica, suggesting this wasn’t some fluke.
The researchers were able to observe a direct cause and effect of these heightened temperatures. On King George Island, researchers watched a land that should be a sheet of snow turn into patches of grass, rocks, and dirt. In areas where snow should have been falling, rain fell instead. Glaciologists climbing the Collins Glacier expected to see tons of solid ice that should be building upon itself, but instead found melting ice.
The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest-warming regions on the planet, warming roughly 5 times faster than the global average. Man-made climate change is one of the reasons, which has caused a cascading effect that has sped up the process. Sea ice is disappearing. That sea ice caused sunlight to reflect into the air. Without it, darker ocean waters absorb more solar energy, creating a feedback loop that accelerates warming.
One major reason is the loss of sea ice. As reflective ice disappears, darker ocean water absorbs more solar energy, creating a feedback loop that accelerates warming and further ice loss.
While all of this is quite concerning, scientists stress that this heatwave won’t suddenly raise global sea levels all on its own. What will do that is the growing trend of similar heat waves happening in recent decades.
Antarctica is still cold, for now. But if it keeps setting new records for high temps, that may not always be the case, and our sea levels, and therefore our coastlines, and our lives, will be in imminent danger.
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