The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has set a new record for the highest temperature for the Antarctic continent – 18.3 ° Celsius on February 6, 2020, at Esperanza station (Argentina). This was reported in the WMO.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – July 2, 2021 – International News
However, WMO rejected an even higher temperature of 20.75 ° C for the continent, which was registered on February 9, 2020, at the Automated Permafrost Monitoring Station (Brazil) on the island of Seymour.
The WMO Archives Committee on Extreme Meteorological and Climatic Phenomena determined that the high-pressure system over the region created hairdryer conditions (downwind that cause significant surface warming) and led to local warming at both Esperanza Station and Seymour Island. Past estimates have shown that such weather conditions contribute to temperature record scenarios.
The WMO stressed that this is a possible record and will be thoroughly researched and validated.
The previous record for the Antarctic region (on the continent, including the mainland and surrounding islands) was 17.5 ° C (63.5 ° Fahrenheit) and was recorded on March 24, 2015, at the Esperanza Research Station.
The record for the Antarctic region (all ice/land south of 60 degrees latitude) is 19.8 ° C and was recorded on the island of Sign in January 1982.
Comment by the WMO Chair:
“It is extremely important to test this maximum temperature record, as it helps us get an idea of the weather and climate on one of the last frontiers of the Earth. Antarctica is poorly covered by continuous and stable observations and forecasts of weather and climate, and even worse than the Arctic, although both territories play an important role in shaping climate and ocean models and sea-level rise, “said WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas.
“The Antarctic Peninsula (northwestern edge near South America) is one of the fastest-warming regions in the world, at almost 3 ° C in the last 50 years. Thus, this new temperature record is in line with our climate change. WMO is working in partnership with the Treaty System about Antarctica in order to help preserve this pristine continent, “said Professor Taalas.
The area of Antarctica is 14 million square meters. km (which is about twice the size of Australia), and it’s cold, windy, and dry. The average annual temperature ranges from about -10 ° C on the coast of Antarctica to -60 ° C in the highest areas of the interior. The huge ice sheet is 4.8 km thick and contains 90% of the world’s freshwater, which will be enough to raise the sea level by about 60 meters if it melts completely.
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Source: Ukrgate