40 degrees warmer than normal in Antarctica | Abroad

On Friday, -17.7 degrees was measured in Vostok at an altitude of almost 3500 meters, a record. Temperatures of no less than 7 degrees were measured on the coast. Temperatures should drop around this time of year as summer is nearing its end. “Freezing days sometimes occur, but never after February 22,” said Gaëtan Heymes of the Meteo-France Meteorological Service. He speaks of ‘historically mild’ temperatures, which are up to 40 degrees above the seasonal averages.

A series of low pressure areas around the Antarctic continent allows warm air to flow far in near the south of the continent. That explains the heat lately. The jet stream, which normally surrounds the area and keeps the heat out and the cold in, has yet to close. That doesn’t seem to be going perfectly for the next few days. In a week, a similar phenomenon could be possible on the west side.

Also at the North Pole stays out of the freezing cold† Where it normally freezes around 25 degrees at this time, the temperature currently barely drops below 0. ,,A powerful air current has drawn almost in a straight line from the south of Europe over Norway and the Arctic Ocean to about 6000 kilometers away, turning it upside down again”, explained weatherman Wouter van Bernebeek earlier this week.

It often does not happen that a warm air stream travels such a long distance to the north. “Normally there is a hitch on the way that stops the flow,” says Van Bernebeek. “It hasn’t been there now.”

This phenomenon cannot be attributed to climate change, the weatherman adds. “We don’t see it often, but it used to happen. In the Arctic, the temperature can fluctuate by as much as 80 degrees, so these kinds of effects are noticeable.”

Still, Van Bernebeek is concerned about the temperature. “The fact that the temperature fluctuates may have nothing to do with global warming, but that the temperature is now above freezing is worrying.”

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