3578. Temperatures in Eastern Antarctica Are 70 Degrees Warmer than Usual

By Sarakshi Rai, The Hill, March 18, 2022

Eastern Antarctica on Friday recorded temperatures that are 70 degrees higher than normal for this time of the year, The Washington Post reported. 

Temperatures in the eastern part of the continent have soared 50 to 90 degrees above normal, raising concern from the scientific community.

The Post reported that instead of temperatures being between minus 50 and minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit, they’ve been closer to zero or 10 degrees Fahrenheit, which is considered to be a massive heat wave by Antarctic standards.

According to a popular weather twitter account Extreme Temps, "extraordinary anomalies in Antarctica" have lead to historic records on Friday.

"In about 65 record years in Vostok, between March and October, values ​​above -30°C were never observed," climate journalist Stefano Di Battista told the news outlet in an email.

A researcher studying polar meteorology at the Université Grenoble Alpes Dr. Jonathan Wille also tweeted that this heatwave was "never supposed to happen."

© istock

Eastern Antarctica on Friday recorded temperatures that are 70 degrees higher than normal for this time of the year, The Washington Post reported. 

Temperatures in the eastern part of the continent have soared 50 to 90 degrees above normal, raising concern from the scientific community.

The Post reported that instead of temperatures being between minus 50 and minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit, they’ve been closer to zero or 10 degrees Fahrenheit, which is considered to be a massive heat wave by Antarctic standards.

According to a popular weather twitter account Extreme Temps, "extraordinary anomalies in Antarctica" have lead to historic records on Friday.

"In about 65 record years in Vostok, between March and October, values ​​above -30°C were never observed," climate journalist Stefano Di Battista told the news outlet in an email.

A researcher studying polar meteorology at the Université Grenoble Alpes Dr. Jonathan Wille also tweeted that this heatwave was "never supposed to happen."

March marks the beginning of autumn in Antarctica, when temperatures usually tend to fall, The Post noted. 

Willie tweeted that the warmer than usual conditions over Antarctica were caused by an extreme weather system.

"[T]his is not something we’ve seen before,” he said. “This moisture is the reason why the temperatures have gotten just so high," he told The Post.