Uh Oh, Antarctica Just Set A New Heat Record

Uh Oh, Antarctica Just Set A New Heat Record

It’s positively balmy in Antarctica. The National Meteorological Service of Argentina announced on Twitter that its Esperanza weather station recorded a new high for the continent: 18.3 degrees Celsius.

The previous temperature record for Antarctica was set on March 24, 2015, when this same weather station reports that the peninsula has warmed almost 3 degrees Celsius over the last half-century.

All this heat is driving sea-level rise around the world, as glaciers and ice sheets melt and enter the ocean. The northern pole in the Arctic isn’t faring all that much better, as global warming continues to drive sea ice loss there, which is further accelerating climate change because the oceans depend on these white surfaces to reflect sunlight. Instead, the ocean is absorbing more and more heat, which is a major threat to marine wildlife.

Both poles are suffering”and it’s all our fault. Or, rather, it’s the fault of some 100 fossil fuel companies that have driven much of our planet’s warming and denied climate change was even real for much of the 21st century, despite knowing damn well how real it was.

All these greenhouse gas emissions are putting Antarctica in a tough spot. This region is home to wonderful penguins, not mention crumbling glaciers that have the potential to put our coasts underwater. We’re slowly losing this ice. And if it were to all melt, our oceans would rise some 200 feet. Preventing this scary future will require dramatically reining in the greenhouse gas emissions of the fossil fuel companies that created this mess.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.