This week’s unusually high temperatures in the Antarctic – which surpassed those in the UK – appear to be part of a heatwave across the Antarctic Peninsula. Scientists have warned that global warming is having devastating effects on ice sheets and permafrost in both the Arctic and Antarctic, with both regions warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world. Argentine researchers at the Esperanza Base in the north of Antarctica announce the new record t emp erature
The world has warmed by about 1C since pre-industrial times. But the Antarctic Peninsula, where the two bases are located, has warmed by nearly 3C in the past 50 years, according to the World Meteorological Society. More than three-quarters of glaciers along the west coast of the Peninsula have retreated in the same period, and melting has accelerated in the past 12 years. Under the international Paris agreement, countries pledged to keep warming to “well below” a 2C increase – a target that researchers have warned is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve without drastic changes.