Researchers in Antarctica stripped down to their shorts last year when an unprecedented heat wave brought temperatures of 70 degrees Fahrenheit above average to the frigid continent.
Climate change is influencing the strength of natural disasters and adding to rising temperatures worldwide. In Antarctica, ice shelves are melting at a faster rate as the globe grows steadily warmer. In fact, the most severe heat wave to ever occur on Earth happened in eastern Antarctica.
In March 2022, a massive heat wave brought temperatures in eastern Antarctica to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, a far cry from its average -65 degrees Fahrenheit according to a study published at the end of August. To mark the occasion, some researchers wore shorts and even removed their shirts to enjoy the uncommonly high temperatures, The Washington Post reported.
The study said that the heat wave was forecast up to eight days in advance. It resulted from a "highly anomalous large-scale circulation pattern that advected an Australian airmass to East Antarctica in 4 days and produced record atmospheric heat fluxes."
However, the heat wave was shocking given that it occurred during a time of year when Antarctica's sunlight is sparse. Due to changing winds around Antarctica, warm air traveled from southern Australia to eastern Antarctica in only four days. The change in winds also brought moisture, snow, rain and caused melting to occur on the eastern coast ice sheet, according to The Washington Post.
Study author Edward Blanchard-Wrigglesworth, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington, told the newspaper that the temperature fluctuation was "unbelievable."
Climate model simulations failed to simulate the anomaly, "showcasing a pathway for future model improvement in simulating extreme heatwaves," the study said.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Jason Nicholls told Newsweek that given the forecast that Australia will have drier, warmer conditions as its summer approaches—and given the reduction in sea ice around Antarctica—another heat wave occurrence is possible.
"Usually when you get an air mass coming off Australia, it is modified by cooling waters as it nears Antarctica," Nicholls said. "With the waters being warmer than normal, and the sea ice is low around Antarctica, there's a little less cooling coming from underneath."
Climate change didn't cause the heat wave, according to the report, but it did worsen the heat wave by about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, a rate that could triple by the end of the 21st century.
However, it is not the first time that Antarctica has been subject to extreme fluctuations in temperature. Fluctuations also occurred at the Casey research station in East Antarctica in the summer of 2019-2020.
Given Antarctica's high latitudes, temperature variations are more common there than other more-populated areas. Still, researchers have expressed concern over the trajectory of Antarctica's temperatures and impacts from anticipated heat waves in the future.
"Such extreme temperatures are concerning as these regions are key oases of biodiversity, where plants and animals have adapted over millennia to a specific narrow range of physical conditions," Australian Antarctic Division scientist Dirk Welsford said, according to the Antarctic portion of the State of Environment report in July 2022.
About the writer
Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
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