Alarming heatwaves at both of the Earth’s poles are causing great concern among climate scientists, who have warned the “unprecedented” events could signal faster and abrupt climate breakdown.
Temperatures in Antarctica reached record levels of 40C above normal in places. At the same time, temperatures 30C above normal were recorded near the north pole.
At this time of year, the Antarctic should be rapidly cooling after its summer, and the Arctic is slowly emerging from its winter. For both poles to be heating at this level at the same time is unprecedented.
This is a strong signal of the damage humanity is inflicting on the planet and polar melting could also trigger further cascading changes that will accelerate climate breakdown.
Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, said the recorded extreme weather was exceeding projections to a worrying extent.
“The warming of the Arctic and Antarctic is cause for concern, and the increase in extreme weather events – of which these are an example – is a cause for concern as well,” he said. “The models have done a good job projecting the overall warming, but we’ve argued that extreme events are exceeding model projections. These events drive home the urgency of action.”