Antarctica on February 13 saw the hottest day in its history with temperatures rising to 20.75 degrees Celsius, according to international media. In a recent development, new satellite images have emerged which reveal that 20% of the snow cover on an Antarctic island melted in just 10 days due to record hot temperatures. The shots of the ice cap on Eagle Island were captured by “Operational Land Imager” on Landsat 8 on February 4 and February 13, 2020, and showed the presence of loose ponds.
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Speaking to the international media, glaciologist Mauri Pelto of Nichols College in Massachusetts said he had never seen melting ponds develop so rapidly in Antarctica. He also claimed that these types of melting events are common in Alaska and Greenland, but not in Antarctica.
Image credits: NASA
Scientists recorded the highest temperature of 20.75 degrees Celsius (69.35 Fahrenheit) in Antarctica on February 13, breaking its previous record. According to the researchers, the fact that the frozen continent is experiencing higher temperatures is likely to fuel fears of global warming on the planet. On Saturday, the base of the Esperanza in the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula had recorded a temperature of 18.3 degrees Celsius.
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The Antarctic Peninsula is among the regions with the fastest heating
According to the World Meteorological Department (WMO), the Antarctic peninsula is among the fastest-warming regions on the planet. In addition, they reportedly reported that rising temperatures are not something that would be normal in Antarctica, not even in the summers.
Earlier this month, scientists made another alarming discovery: “hot” water under the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica. According to international media reports, scientists recorded water temperatures at 2 degrees Celsius in the usually freezing environment of Antarctica, marking the first of its kind.
Read: Antarctica records the hottest temperature ever, experts say “planet in Trouble”
Meanwhile, the Esperanza base in the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula recorded a temperature of 18.3 degrees Celsius, the highest ever recorded, the World Meteorological Department reported on February 8. Speaking in Geneva, WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis on Friday reported that it was not a figure that would be normal in Antarctica, not even in the summer. It beat the previous 17.5 degrees Celsius, which in turn was a setback in 2015.
Image credits: NASA
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