Even though it’s too cold to do agriculture in Antarctica, I am still interested in the weather and climate there.  On Friday Dr. Jeff Masters posted a news story in his Weather Underground blog on a possible new record for the highest temperature ever recorded on the continent of Antarctica.  On Tuesday, a record high of 63.5 degrees was recorded at Argentina’s Esperanza Base on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, beating the previous record set just the day before on a small islet nearby.  Prior to that, the record was 62.8 degrees set on April 24, 1961 at the same location.  According to Climate Central, this area is one of the fastest-warming areas on the globe.  You can read the blog here.  I’ve posted a graph of the average conditions next to the map below.

esperanza base           base-esperanza-climate-graph

 

Source: Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia