Raphael ThysPhoto by Daiwei Lu on Unsplash
What’s Going On In The Arctic Should Worry You
If you think we had a hot summer, it is nothing compared to the Poles.
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Published in
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5 min read
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3 days ago
This year was a wake-up call for anyone who thought climate change wasn’t a problem. The world has sweltered under insane heat and suffered through its consequences, like wildfires, droughts, and sudden floods. But what we have experienced this year is just the horderves of what’s to come. Yet, at the bottom of the world, heat records weren’t just broken; they were utterly demolished last year with one of the most ferocious heatwaves ever. But despite the Antarctic’s distant isolation, we have every reason to be terrified of this drastic turn of events.
So, what happened in Antarctica?
Well, during March 2022, temperatures in Eastern Antarctica soared to about 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above the monthly average. March 18th was the hottest day of this heatwave, where the temperature reached -10C (-14F). For some contrast, the average for this region of Antarctica during March is -54C (-65.2F).
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This makes this heatwave by far the largest-ever record. For some context, if this heatwave occurred in New York during March, the temperature would be an astonishing 45.5 degrees Celsius (113.9 F) rather than the monthly average of 6.5 degrees Celsius (43.7 F). That is actually hotter than the hottest temperature ever recorded in New York of 42.2 degrees Celsius (108 F).
Now, the big question on everyone’s lips is, what caused this insane heatwave? Was it us through climate change?
Well, researchers went back through meteorological data and found that this heat wave was caused by bizarre air current patterns near Australia, which pushed a warm bubble of air into the polar region. Now, such unusual air patterns can be caused by climate change, as it affects the thermodynamics of the atmosphere, which in turn changes or destabilises weather systems like the jet streams and Hadley cells. But for a while, it wasn’t clear if climate change was the cause of these unusual air circulations near Australia. This is because there is very little meteorological data on the polar south…