Alarming satellite images of Antarctica reveal extreme melting event
Startling images of Antarctica taken just nine days apart show the impact of the continent’s hottest day on record.
On February 6, Esperanza – an Argentine research base at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula – recorded a temperature of 18.3C, which was the same recorded temperature in Los Angeles on the same day.
The new record significantly surpasses the previous record of 17.5C, which was set on March 24, 2015, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
Antarctica is known to be Earth’s coldest, windiest and driest continent and the average annual temperature ranges from roughly minus 80C in winter to 10C in summer.
Now, NASA has released two images of the Eagle Island – some 40km away from the Argentinian base and just off the mainland – showing how the recent heatwave has impacted ice caps, which have melted into the ocean causing melt ponds to start appearing on the island.
According to NASA, the February heatwave was the third major melt event of the 2019-20 summer, after warm spells were recorded in November 2019 and January 2020.
“I haven't seen melt ponds develop this quickly in Antarctica,” glaciologist Mauri Pelto said in a press release issued by NASA.
“You see these kinds of melt events in Alaska and Greenland, but not usually in Antarctica.”
Mr Pelto also added these particular weather events aren’t especially significant in Antarctica, however the fact they are occurring more frequently is.
From February 6 to February 11, Eagle Island lost over 10 centimetres of snow and nearby glaciers also experienced widespread melting.
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