Researchers believe that this event is a sign of what awaits the planet in the future.
Scientists set a record heat wave that reached Antarctica. IFLScience writes about it.
A heat wave was recorded at the Concordia Dome C research station, located deep in East Antarctica on March 18, 2022.
An extreme heat wave has hit Antarctica, causing temperatures on the continent to rise an incredible 40°C above average. Scientists say this is the highest jump above average seasonal temperature ever recorded on Earth.
The average annual temperature in Concordia is around -55°C, but depending on the season it can range from -30°C in summer to -80°C in winter. March is the transition month to the Antarctic winter, so the average temperature during this period in the area is expected to be around -50°C.
But on March 18, 2022, at the end of the Antarctic summer, a record temperature of -9.4°C was recorded at a remote station, which is about 40°C above the seasonal average.
“The size of the heat wave reaching Antarctica is enormous: an area of 3.3 million square kilometers in East Antarctica exceeded the previous monthly temperature records in March 2022. The results of the study indicate that the record heat wave caused a large amount of Antarctica to melt. Coastal areas experienced widespread melting of surface ice, contributing to record low sea ice extent. Some researchers also suggest that this event was the “last straw” that brought down the Conger Ice Shelf on March 15, 2022.
Remember that Antarctica has lost about 7.5 trillion tons of ice since 1997.
Source: korrespondent
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