The two coldest places on the earth have been showing anomalous behavior for a few days now.
In the last week alone the Washington Post reported that temperatures in Eastern Antarctica could have gone as high as 90 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than usual. The publication also reported that a “bomb cyclone” could bring Arctic temperatures near the melting point as they soared 50 degrees Fahrenheit above normal this weekend.
This means that both of Earth’s poles are going through unprecedented warming at the same time.
“It is impossible, we would have said until two days ago,” said Antarctic climatology researcher and journalist Stefano Battista on Twitter Friday, pictured below.
According to the Post, temperatures have been closer to 0 degrees Fahrenheit, much hotter than the usual minus-50 or minus-60 degrees. That’s especially scary since the continent is entering autumn and losing 25 minutes of sunlight every day.
The warming was caused by warm air and moisture in the atmosphere, in a similar fashion to the separate cyclone’s effects on the Arctic. The region is still in the six-month-long “polar night”, temperatures over the weekend could hit 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is yet another example of how climate change is real and it’s not stopping for anyone. However, experts are not calling it a lost cause.
There is still time to engage in proactively positive actions to stop things from getting worse and irreversible.