This enormous temperature jump could have huge impacts. On 18th March 2022 scientist at Concordia research station on the east side of Antarctica. To put this leap in perspective, that would take a normal spring day in the UK, up to some of the highest temperatures ever recorded on planet earth.
What is perhaps more alarming, is that this does not appear to be a particularly rare event, with similar temperatures registered at various times over the last few years. Given the vast stores of water locked away on the Antarctic, regular temperatures like this are highly alarming, as they can cause this ice to melt, and therefore drain back into the sea.
Until recently thought to be safer than the Arctic, the Antarctic is now rapidly catching up. However, unlike the Arctic which is a vast ice sheet sitting on the sea, melting Antarctic ice, has the potential to raise sea levels by several tens of meters across the earths surface.
This brings the threat of substantial sea level rises in the next couple of decades, rather than being left to the latter half of the century as formerly predicted.
Already this is having huge ecological impacts area Antarctica, as algae is failing to grow on the edge of the ice, which in turn is not feeding the krill – the foundation of the entire food pyramid in this part of the world.
