Antarctica Temps Are 50 To 90 Degrees Above Normal

The Washington Post reports:

The coldest location on the planet has experienced an episode of warm weather this week unlike any ever observed, with temperatures over the eastern Antarctic ice sheet soaring 50 to 90 degrees above normal. The warmth has smashed records and shocked scientists.

“This event is completely unprecedented and upended our expectations about the Antarctic climate system,” said Jonathan Wille, a researcher studying polar meteorology at Université Grenoble Alpes in France, in an email.

What is considered “warm” over the frozen, barren confines of eastern Antarctica is, of course, relative. Instead of temperatures being minus-50 or minus-60 degrees, they’ve been closer to zero or 10 degrees — but that’s a massive heat wave by Antarctic standards.

Read the full article.

It’s 70 degrees warmer than normal in eastern Antarctica. Scientists are flabbergasted. https://t.co/zy7H5FnIe9

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 19, 2022