Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Environment Climate

Research station in East Antarctica reports its first heatwave

It was recorded during the 2019-2020 Arctic summer.

Fermin Koop by Fermin Koop
March 31, 2020
in Climate, Environment, News, Science

Among the many consequences of climate change, extreme weather events are usually on top of the list. Heatwaves, flooding, and droughts, among many others, are already becoming more frequent and impactful across the globe, and Antarctica is no exception.

Credit Wikipedia Commons

Researchers at the Australian Antarctic Program reported the first recorded heatwave event at the Casey research station in East Antarctica. The event, which took place during the 2019-2020 summer, is likely to have impacted biological systems across the continent and accelerated ice melt.

Heatwaves happen when three consecutive days with both extreme and minimum temperatures are reported. Between January 23rd and 26th, the research station recorded minimum temperatures above zero and maximum above 7.5º (45.5 ºF), with the highest m9.2º C (48.5 ºF), being recorded on the 24th. The highest minimum, 2.5º C (36.5 ºF) was recorded the following morning.

ADVERTISEMENT

The maximum is 6.9º C (44.4 ºF) higher than average for the station, while the minimum is 0.2º C (32.3 ºF) above average.

Land-based meteorological stations in Antarctica have measured temperatures as low as −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) in the past. Satellites identified even lower temperatures, of -93.2 °C (−135.8 °F). Australian Antarctic Division applied Antarctic ecologist, Dr. Dana Bergstrom, and a group of researchers said that in the past a large part of East Antarctica had been spared from climate warming due to ozone depletion, which cools surface temperature and creates strong winds.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

But these record-breaking temperatures seem long gone. The warmer temperatures reported on by the station can be linked to higher than average temperatures across different parts of Antarctica and to other meteorological patterns during the spring and summer of 2019 in the Southern Hemisphere, all influenced by the early breakup of the ozone hole in 2019.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The upper levels of the atmosphere at the edge of Antarctica were strongly disturbed in the spring of 2019, and effects of this likely further influenced the lower atmosphere over Antarctica during the summer,” Dr Andrew Klekociuk said in a statement, adding there are now international controls working to close the ozone hole.

The researchers believe that the warm summer reported in Antarctica will likely lead to long-term disruption to local populations, communities, and the broader ecosystem. This disruption could be both positive and negative.

“Most life exists in small ice-free oases in Antarctica, and largely depends on melting snow and ice for their water supply,” Dr Bergstrom said in a statement. “Meltwater flooding can provide additional water to these desert ecosystems, leading to increased growth and reproduction of mosses, lichens, microbes, and invertebrates.”

Nevertheless, according to Bergstrom, excessive flooding can displace plants and alter the composition of invertebrates and microbial mats. “If the ice melts completely, early in the season, then ecosystems will suffer drought for the rest of the season,” she added.

The study was published in Global Change Biology.

Tags: antarcticaclimate changeglobal warming
Fermin Koop

Fermin Koop

Fermin Koop is a reporter from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He holds an MSc from Reading University (UK) on Environment and Development and is specialized in environment and climate change news.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.