Abnormally high temperatures at the North and South Poles

It has been much warmer than normal in recent days in the Arctic and Antarctica. Weather stations in Antarctica recorded record temperatures: in some areas, it was 40 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. Parts of the Arctic were 30 degrees warmer than normal.

In the Antarctic city of Vostok, located nearly 3,500 meters above sea level, the temperature on Friday was unusually high -17.7 degrees Celsius. On the coast, temperatures at 7 degrees were well above freezing, reports the Washington Post. While summer in the southern hemisphere is almost over, and temperatures in Antarctica are therefore expected to drop.

Temperatures were measured around zero at the North Pole last week. In late winter and early spring, temperatures are normally much lower there, around -25 degrees.

“Opposite Seasons”

It is remarkable that it is so hot at both poles at the same time. “These are opposite seasons. We never see the North Pole and the South Pole melting at the same time,” American ice scientist Walt Meier told the Associated Press news agency. “It’s very exceptional,” also said NOS weather forecaster Gerrit Hiemstra.

Extremely high temperatures in the Arctic and Antarctic are caused by areas of low pressure. In the Arctic, an area of ​​low pressure near eastern Canada and the United States pushes warm air from the south to the north. And near Antarctica is a series of low pressure areas that allow warm air to circulate over much of the continent.

Never seen so little sea ice

The result of high temperatures is that a relatively large amount of ice melts. At the North Pole, the ice has been melting since February, which normally doesn’t start until mid-March.

Since the first measurement in 1979, there has never been so little pack ice in Antarctica at the end of summer in the southern hemisphere. There are now less than 2 million square kilometers of ice around the continent. Much of the ice will regrow in the coming months as fall and winter turn into fall and winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Scientists are not entirely sure that the abnormally high temperatures are due to climate change. It is easier to determine if these high temperatures occur more often at the poles and therefore if there is a trend. “But it wouldn’t have happened without climate change,” says Hiemstra.