Global Warming? Antarctica Records Coldest Season Ever as Ice Loss Slows
The South Pole recorded its coldest season since climate scientists began tracking temperatures on the continent in 1957, The Washington Post reported.
Antarctica’s average temperature over the last six months was minus 78 degrees, or 4.5 degrees below the average recorded over the previous 30 years, The Washington Post reported. The temperatures were recorded between April and September — Antarctica’s winter months — at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Temperatures even touched minus 100, at times, University of Wisconsin Scientists Matthew Lazzara told the Post.
Scientists pointed to a major polar vortex that swept through the southern continent as the likely cause for low temperatures, the Post reported.
“Basically, the winds in the polar stratosphere have been stronger than normal, which is associated with shifting the jet stream toward the pole,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Scientist Amy Butler said, according to the Post. “This keeps the cold air locked up over much of Antarctica.”
A polar vortex is a mass of low pressure and cold air, according to the National Weather Service. Polar vortices occur on both of Earth’s poles during their respective winter months. (Read more from “Global Warming? Antarctica Records Coldest Season Ever as Ice Loss Slows” HERE)
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