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August 3, 2024 – Surface temperatures across large swathes of the Antarctic ice sheet have soared an average of 10°C above normal over the past month in what has been described as an almost record-breaking heat wave.
At this time of year, the polar continent is shrouded in darkness and temperatures remain below zero, but in the depths of the southern hemisphere winter, temperatures have reportedly reached the expected 28 degrees Celsius in a few days.
The world experienced 12 months of record heat, with temperatures persistently above 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, considered the limit for avoiding the worst climate breakdown.
Michael Dukes, MetDesk forecast director, said while the individual daily high temperatures were surprising, more important was the rise in average temperatures for the month.
Climate scientists’ models have long predicted that the most dramatic impacts of human-caused climate change will occur in the polar regions, and “this is a perfect example of that,” he said.
“You can’t usually look at just one month and see a climate trend, but it matches what the models predict,” Dukes added. “Generally speaking, in Antarctica, this kind of warming in the winter and continuing through the summer could lead to ice sheet collapse.”
Last month was the first time in 14 months that the temperature record was not broken, but after an unusually warm July in 2023, it was still 0.3 degrees Celsius above the average July.
Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth, said the Antarctic heat wave is “definitely one of the biggest drivers of rising global temperatures in recent weeks.”
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