(Paris) Antarctica, the coldest continent on the planet, is also experiencing a heat wave during its winter, of exceptionally long duration, according to the British institute specializing in the study of polar regions.
“The duration of this warm spell is unusual,” Thomas Caton Harrison, an expert at the British Antarctic Survey, told AFP.
In July, average temperatures on the southern continent were 3.1 degrees Celsius above seasonal norms, he said. That made it the second warmest July – after July 1981 – since records began in 1979.
Average daily temperatures ranged from -34.68°C on July 15 to -28.12°C on July 31, according to data posted online by the University of Maine. The average temperature across the continent was -26.6°C on August 7, the latest date available.
The anomaly even reached +9 to +10°C in July over a limited region that includes Queen Maud Land and part of the Weddell Sea.
Temperature anomalies are common during the Antarctic winter, but this episode is unusual in its duration, scientists say. It’s the prolonged warmth that is “remarkable,” insists Thomas Caton Harrison.
“Very preliminary data suggest that we may be on track for an exceptionally warm Antarctic winter,” he said.
The windswept white continent with no permanent population is the coldest place on Earth. But it is also affected by global warming.
In a study published in June in the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers estimated that a new “tipping point” could be about to be crossed, with Antarctica heading toward “uncontrolled melting” of its ice sheets due to now warmer ocean water.
This poses a risk of rising sea levels as accelerated melting outpaces the formation of new ice on the continent, threatening coastal populations around the world.