UN weather agency WMO confirms 18.3°C record heat in Antarctica

NEW YORK, July 2 — The UN World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on Thursday confirmed a new maximum temperature of 18.3 degrees Celsius (64.9 degrees Fahrenheit) for the Antarctic.

“The WMO has recognised a new record high temperature for the Antarctic continent of 18.3° Celsius on Feb 6, 2020, at the Esperanza station (Argentina),” Sputnik reported the agency as saying in a press release.

WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said it was essential to verify the record high temperature for the Antarctic Peninsula, which is among the fastest-warming regions – almost 3 degrees Celsius over the last 50 years.

“This new temperature record is therefore consistent with the climate change we are observing,” Taalas said.

The previous record verified by the WMO for the Antarctic continent was 17.5 degrees Celsius (63.5 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded on March 24, 2015, at Esperanza Research Station.

WMO simultaneously rejected the previous record for the Antarctic region of 20.7 degrees Celsius (69.3 degrees Fahrenheit) reported on Feb 9, 2020, on Seymour Island.

The WMO’s Weather and Climate Extremes Archive, which reviewed the weather situation on the Antarctic peninsula at the time of both records, determined downslope winds producing significant surface warming resulted in local warming at both Esperanza Station and Seymour Island.

— BERNAMA