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Iceberg in Antarctica: Scientists call the temperature record "an unprecedented event"
Photo: David Merron/Getty Images
The cold pole of the earth is quite warm these days: -17.7 degrees Celsius were measured on Friday at the Vostok station in Antarctica, as reported by the Washington Post, among others.
Experts are excited about the record.
"This unprecedented event has turned our assumptions about the Antarctic climate system on its head," French scientist Jonathan Wille told the newspaper.
"I haven't seen anything like it before," University of Colorado researcher Ted Scambos told the AP.
The Vostok station in eastern Antarctica is considered the coldest point on earth.
The lowest officially recognized air temperature was measured there: -89.2 degrees Celsius, on July 21, 1983.
The average high temperature in March is around -53 degrees there.
Compared to that, -17.7 degrees is almost summery.
The value exceeds the previous March record by almost 15 degrees, reports the "Post".
The temperature record is therefore also surprising because of its timing: autumn is now beginning in Antarctica, and the region loses around 25 minutes of sunlight a day.
The extent to which this anomaly was triggered by the climate crisis is still unclear.
French meteorologist Wille said it was difficult to directly attribute this case to global warming.
However, the increased temperatures create the conditions for such developments.
His US colleague Walt Meier said a "great atmospheric flow" probably pumped warm and humid air south from the Pacific.
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