This historic warm spell in East Antarctica is an ominous example of the temperature spikes this polar climate could experience more of in a warming world.
By Kasha Patel, The Washington PostIce floats on the Bransfield Strait near the Bernardo O'Higgins Chilean military base in Antarctica, Nov. 23, 2023. 50 degrees above normal in the second major heat wave to afflict the region in the past two years. This historic warm spell could persist for another 10 days and is an ominous example of the major temperature spikes this polar climate could experience more frequently in a warming world.
Temperatures are expected to remain up to 36 to 50 degrees above average in parts of East Antarctica for the next 10 days. They have been substantially above average for most of July, but not as high as they are now. Last week, they climbed to 20 degrees above average.its warmest July since 2002, about 11 degrees above average, according to Antarctic temperature analyst Stefano Di Battista.
The stratosphere contains a strong band of cold air and low pressure spinning around each pole, known as the polar vortex. The vortex is typically strong and stable during winter in the southern hemisphere, said Amy Butler, an atmospheric scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But this year, she said, it’s been jostled by atmospheric waves, weakening the vortex and causing high-altitude temperatures to soar; this is known as a sudden stratospheric warming event.
Atmospheric pressures over East Antarctica are also surging to “absolutely bonkers” levels, tweeted Ben Noll, a meteorologist based in New Zealand. “The weather in the Southern Hemisphere is a little wild at the moment!” he wrote. Scientists say it’s also hard to ignore that the entire world has seen record warmth since last July, consistently exceeding an average of 1.5 Celsius of warming above the preindustrial era. As the globe warms, however, the poles are warming at an even faster rate. Recent ice core data and modeling show Antarctica is warming up twice as fast as the global average.
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