Experts
have measured what is expected the highest temperature ever on Antarctica: 63.5
degrees Fahrenheit (17.5 Celsius). They have made measurements at Argentina's
Esperanza Base, on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to
the meteorological website Weather Underground. The preceding hottest
recognized temperature on the Antarctica was 62.8°F (17.1°C), recorded at
Esperanza Base on April 24, 1961.
The Weather Underground called last week's
temperatures a remarkable heat wave, though they happened during the end of the
austral summer, when Antarctic temperatures are naturally highest. The
temperature has yet to be certified as an official record for the continent by
the WMO (World Meteorological Organization). Therefore it is hard to draw much
conclusion from a single temperature record, cautions Gavin Schmidt, a climate
researcher with NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.
Last year Antarctica also logged a record cold temperature. What are
more imperative are the long-term trends, says Schmidt. And when it comes to
Antarctica, he points out, the past few years "have actually been quite
complex. The world's ocean has been warming rapidly, absorbing much of the
planet's excess heat.
The large glaciers around Antarctica that come in contact
with the warming water have been melting rapidly. But some other glaciers
farther inland on the continent are actually growing. That has not been
reasonably explained. The science is mostly intricate because the ozone hole
continues to affect the region's climate in ways that aren't well understood.
The global circulation of winds and currents remains a test for researchers to
grasp. One record warm temperature doesn't cut through all that intricacy. When
it comes to the entire planet, the Earth remains on track to warm by an average
of at least two degrees C (3.6 degrees F) by the end of the century, experts
report, though exactly how much is expected to depend on countries' abilities
to lessen emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Source: National Geographic
