Earth's poles are both undergoing 'freakish' HEATWAVES
Earth's poles are both undergoing 'freakish' heatwaves - with
parts of Antarctica (
https://bit.ly/3JBUIFo) more than 70°F
(40°C) warmer than average, and areas of the Arctic more than
50°F (30°C) warmer than average, climate scientists have warned.
Weather stations in Antarctica shattered records last week as the
region neared autumn, taking scientists by surprise because they
were paying attention to the Arctic, where temperatures were also
rising.
'They are opposite seasons. You don't see the north and the south
(poles) both melting at the same time,' explained Walt Meier, an
ice scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Bouldor,
Colorado. 'It's definitely an unusual occurrence.'
The heatwaves are causing alarm among climate scientists, who
have warned the record temperatures could signal faster climate
breakdown than previously predicted.
'Not a good sign when you see that sort of thing happen,' said
University of Wisconsin meteorologist Matthew Lazzara.
The two-mile high Concordia station in Antarctica was at 10°F
(-12.2°C) on Friday last week, which is about 70°F (40°C) warmer
than average.
Meanwhile, the even higher Vostok station hit a shade above 0°F
(-17.7°C), beating its all-time record by about 27°F (15°C),
according to a tweet from extreme weather record tracker Maximiliano
Herrera.
The coastal Terra Nova Base was far above freezing at 44.6°F (7°C).
At the same time, parts of the Arctic were 50°F (30°C) warmer than
average and areas around the North Pole were nearing or at the
melting point, which is very unusual for mid-March, according to
the experts.
'I have never seen anything like this,' said University of Colorado
ice scientist Ted Scambos, who returned recently from an expedition
to Antarctica.
Lazzara monitors temperatures at East Antarctica's Dome C-ii and
logged 14°F (-10°C) last Friday, where the normal is -45°F (-43°C).
Both Lazzara and Meier said what happened in Antarctica is probably
just a random weather event and not a sign of climate change.
But if it happens again or repeatedly then it might be something to
worry about and part of global warming, they said.
The Antarctic continent as a whole on Friday was about 8.6°F (4.8°C)
warmer than a baseline temperature between 1979 and 2000, according
to the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer, based on US National
Oceanic Atmospheric Administration weather models.
