The warmest July in Antarctica in over 40 years

Preliminary data from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), reported by the AFP news agency, shows that the average temperature in July 2024 across Antarctica was 3.1 degrees Celsius higher than normal for that month. For land and land ice, this makes it the second-warmest July in Antarctica since records began in 1979. The warmest is considered to be July 1981.

According to data published by the University of Maine, the average daily temperature in Antarctica ranged from -34.68 degrees Celsius (July 15) to -28.12 degrees Celsius (July 31). August 7 On the southern continent it was -26.6 degrees Celsius, which means that we can expect another record this month.

The scientists found that in limited areas including Queen Maud Land and part of the Weddell Sea, monthly temperature differences reached as much as 9-10 degrees Celsius.

According to BAS, in winter (from March to October) average monthly temperatures at coastal stations range from -10 to -30 degrees Celsius.

Thomas Caton Harrison, an expert at BAS, told AFP that temperature anomalies do occur during Antarctic winters, but this episode is unusual in terms of its duration.

“Very early data suggests this could be an unusually warm Antarctic winter,” Harrison added.

Scientists say the continent, which is the coldest place on Earth, is being affected by global warming. Researchers in a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience in June found a new “tipping point” toward “runaway melting” of the Antarctic ice sheet, caused by warm ocean water seeping between the ice and the land it sits on. The rising sea levels, which are caused by the melting of glaciers accelerating the formation of new ice on the continent, threaten people living in coastal areas around the world.

The British Antarctic Survey is a British government institute specializing in the study of the polar regions. It has been collecting data on these places since 1979.