Antarctica Experiences Long Winter Heatwave

AFP-Jiji

17:15 JST, August 29, 2024

PARIS (AFP-Jiji) — Antarctica, the world’s coldest continent, is experiencing an exceptionally long heatwave during its winter, according to Britain’s national polar research institute.

Provisional figures indicate the Antarctic-wide July 2024 average near-surface temperature was 3.1 C above normal for the month.

Calculated over land and land ice, this makes it the second-warmest July in Antarctica since records began in 1979 — the warmest was in July 1981.

Average daily temperatures ranged from minus 34.68 C on July 15 to minus 28.12 C on July 31, according to data posted online by the University of Maine.

It was minus 26.6 C on average on the continent on Aug. 7, the latest date available.