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It’s T-Shirt Weather in Antarctica as Temperature Breaks Record

Reading at Argentina’s Esperanza base surpassed the previous high set in 2015.

A group of emperor penguins on Snow Hill Island in Antarctica. — A group of emperor penguins on Snow Hill Island in Antarctica.
Photographer: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket

By

Laura Millan Lombrana

February 7, 2020, 1:15 PM UTCUpdated onFebruary 7, 2020, 5:47 PM UTC

The temperature at one research base in Antarctica reached a record-breaking 18.3 degrees Celsius (65 Fahrenheit) on Thursday, almost a full degree above the previous high set five years ago.

Argentine scientists on the Esperanza base who confirmed the reading said that wasn’t the only record broken this week. The nation’s Marambio site registered the highest temperature for the month of February since 1971. Thermometers there hit 14.1 Celsius, above the previous February 2013 reading of 13.8 Celsius.