The South Pole Heats Up Three Times Faster Than Other Parts Of The World, What's Going On?

It’s long been known that it’s not as easy for warm air to reach Antarctica as other regions on Earth. However, according to a new study, the South Pole is no longer safe from the penetration of warm air and climate change.

The study, which went live on Monday, discovered that over the past 30 years, the South Pole has warmed up three times as fast as the global rate. In the 1989-2018 period, the region experience that biggest average warming trend with a rise of 0.61 degrees Celsius per decade. To measure the warming trends in the South Pole, the scientists collected and analyzed data from 20 long-term weather stations in the region. The finding of this study is prominent as the region used to be immune to warming, said Kyle Clem, study author and postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Geography, Environment, and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington. Clem said:

“Our study shows this is no longer the case. Also, due to the short length of the temperature records and sparse weather station observations across the Antarctic interior, we really don’t know much about this part of the planet. Here, we shed light that the Antarctic interior is susceptible to abrupt and extreme multi-decadal climate swings.”

The team also looked at wind measurements and atmospheric data to assess how much of the warming is due to natural variability rather than human influence. It turns out that the temperature increase can be caused by the lower atmospheric pressure in the Weddell Sea that brings more warm air to the South Pole from the South Atlantic. The possible reason behind this is the higher temperatures in the western tropical Pacific, which lowers the pressure in the Weddell Sea.

This warming level is under the possible threshold of natural climate variability, but the scientists also emphasize that the greenhouse gas emitted from humans is worsening the situation. On the other hand, senior research scientists Ted Scambos from the University of Colorado Boulder says that attributing specific warming events to climate change requires extreme attention.

However, Clem worries that science opponents and climate deniers may misconstrue the study findings for their own sake. While the nature variability of the South Pole makes it really hard to know what role humans are playing in the ongoing events, it doesn’t mean Antarctica is not affected by climate change.

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