Scientists at Argentina’s Esperanza research station recorded a temperature of 15.4 degrees Celsius on June 6, breaking the previous June record of 13.3 degrees set in 1998 and standing approximately 20 degrees above the station’s typical June average of minus 6.2 degrees, according to data reported by multiple news outlets.
The Antarctic Peninsula, where Esperanza is located, has recorded unusually high temperatures for three consecutive weeks, with daily maximum temperatures remaining above freezing. The readings have continued into mid-June, which marks the beginning of winter in the Southern Hemisphere.
Similar temperature anomalies were observed at other Argentine research stations. Marambio recorded 11.8 degrees Celsius against a June average of minus 10.7 degrees, while San Martin reached 9.4 degrees compared to its usual minus 5.6 degrees.
Scientists attribute the warmth to reduced Antarctic sea ice coverage. Satellite observations show the Bellingshausen Sea on the peninsula’s western side has almost no ice, when it would normally be frozen by June. The absence of sea ice typically allows warmer air masses from the north to penetrate more deeply into the region.
Argentina’s National Weather Service climatologist Jose Luis Stella described the temperature deviations as “very unusual for the time of year.”
The warm conditions have prevented snow accumulation at research stations and accelerated ice melt in some areas. Scientists note that the Antarctic Peninsula has been warming at two to three times the global average rate over the past five decades, with temperatures rising approximately 3 degrees Celsius since 1950.