Even at -30°C, Antarctica experiences a long winter heatwave

Antarctica, the coldest continent on the planet, is also experiencing a heat wave during its winter, of an exceptionally long duration, according to the British institute specializing in the study of polar regions.

“The duration of this period of heat is unusual,” Thomas Caton Harrison, expert at the British Antarctic Survey, told AFP. 

In July, average temperatures on the southern continent were 3.1°C above seasonal norms, he said.

 This makes it the second warmest July – after July 1981 – since records began in 1979. Average daily temperatures ranged from -34.68°C on July 15 to -28.12°C on July 31 , according to data posted online by the University of Maine.

It was -26.6°C on average on the continent on August 7, the latest date available. The anomaly even reached +9 to +10°C in July over a limited region which includes Queen Maud Land and part of the Weddell Sea.