Antarctica’s weather has worldwide impacts and can be a ‘canary in the mine’ for patterns of change elsewhere
While the world rightfully focuses on the Covid-19 pandemic, the planet is still warming. This summer’s Antarctic weather, as elsewhere in the world, was unprecedented in the observed record.
Our research, published today in Global Change Biology, describes the recent heatwave in Antarctica. Beginning in late spring east of the Antarctic Peninsula, it circumnavigated the continent over the next four months. Some of our team spent the summer in Antarctica observing these temperatures and the effect on natural systems, witnessing the heatwave first hand.
Dana M Bergstrom is principal research scientist at the Antarctic Division and a visiting scholar at the University of Wollongong; Andrew Klekociuk is an adjunct senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania; Diana King is a research officer at the University of Wollongong; and Sharon Robinson is professor at the University of Wollongong.
This article was first published by the Conversation. You can read the original piece here.
