Antarctica may have reached its hottest day ever last Tuesday, with temperatures reaching 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
On the Monday before, a record high of 63.3 degrees was recorded on a small islet just off the
coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, said Weather Underground. Before last week’s heat wave, which hasn’t yet been verified by the World Meteorological Organization, the previous record temperature in Antarctica was 62.8 degrees, measured in 1961.
Antarctica’s average temperature has risen about 5 degrees during the past 50 years.
The record is in question partly because area where last week’s high temperature was measured is in the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and may be considered as part of Argentina.
Last week’s heat wave occurred in the middle of the region’s autumn season. The area’s hottest days typically occur in December.
So far this year, five territories or nations have set or tied record-high temperatures, compared with
two in 2014 and nine in 2013, Tech Times noted.
On March 7, Equatorial Guinea set a national record-high temperature of 95.9 degrees, up from its previous record of 95.5 set in 1957.
Ice shelves in Antarctica are melting faster than previously thought. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, studied 18 years of satellite data, determining that some ice shelves have lost up to 18 percent of their thickness in less than two decades.
Twitter users shared mixed commentary.
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