The hottest temperature ever recorded in Antartica was measured on Thursday at a remote station on the continent’s Northern tip, scientists said.
At one moment the temperature was nearly 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 Celsius) at Argentina’s Esperanza research station, scientists from the country’s meteorological agency said.
However the final maximum was reported to be 18.4°C. 18.3 was a provisional value at 15UTC.
That surpassed the previous record of 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit (17.5 Celsius) set on March 24, 2015 at the same location. Temperature records from Esperanza date back to 1961.
CNN reports while one needs to keep in mind that now there is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s not typical that the temperatures in Antarctica — one of the coldest places on Earth — are nearly the same as those in Southern California.
BBC reports that temperatures on the Antarctic continent have risen by almost 3C over the past 50 years, the organisation said, and about 87% of the glaciers along its west coast have “retreated” in that time.
The glaciers have shown an “accelerated retreat” in the past 12 years, the WMO added, due to global warming.
Via CNN / Twitter / BBC
