{"id":4009,"date":"2022-04-11T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=4009"},"modified":"2022-03-28T05:57:26","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T05:57:26","slug":"record-smashing-heatwaves-are-hitting-antarctica-and-the-arctic-simultaneously-heres-whats-driving-them-and-how-theyll-impact-wildlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/record-smashing-heatwaves-are-hitting-antarctica-and-the-arctic-simultaneously-heres-whats-driving-them-and-how-theyll-impact-wildlife\/","title":{"rendered":"Record-smashing heatwaves are hitting Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously. Here\u2019s what\u2019s driving them, and how they\u2019ll impact wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n \n
\n Windmill Islands, near Casey Research Station, Antarctica\n Dana M Bergstrom<\/span>, Author provided<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nDana M Bergstrom<\/a>, University of Wollongong<\/a><\/em>; Sharon Robinson<\/a>, University of Wollongong<\/a><\/em>, and Simon Alexander<\/a>, University of Tasmania<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Record-breaking heatwaves hit both Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously this week, with temperatures reaching 47\u2103 and 30\u2103 higher than normal.<\/p>\n\n

Heatwaves are bizarre at any time in Antarctica, but particularly now at the equinox as Antarctica is about to descend into winter darkness. Likewise, up north, the Arctic is just emerging from winter. <\/p>\n\n

Are these two heatwaves linked? We don\u2019t know yet, and it\u2019s most likely a coincidence. But we do know weather systems in Antarctica and the Arctic are connected to regions nearest to them, and these connections sometimes reach all the way to the tropics. <\/p>\n\n

And is climate change the cause? It might be. While it\u2019s too soon to say for sure, we do know climate change is making polar heatwaves more common and severe, and the poles are warming faster than the global average<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

So let\u2019s take a closer look at what\u2019s driving the extreme anomalies for each region, and the flow-on effects for polar wildlife like penguins and polar bears.<\/p>\n\n

\n \"\"<\/a>\n
\n At this time of year, Ad\u00e9lie penguin chicks leave the nest to go hunting at sea on their own.<\/span>\n Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

What happened in Antarctica?<\/h2>\n\n

Antarctica\u2019s heatwave was driven by a slow, intense high pressure system located southeast of Australia, which carried vast amounts of warm air and moisture deep into Antarctica\u2019s interior. It was coupled with a very intense low pressure system over the east Antarctic interior. <\/p>\n\n

To make matters worse, cloud cover over the Antarctic ice plateau trapped heat radiating from the surface. <\/p>\n\n

\n \"\"<\/a>\n
\n Recent storm clouds over East Antarctica.<\/span>\n Barry Becker<\/span>, Author provided<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

Since it\u2019s autumn in Antarctica, temperatures in the continent\u2019s interior weren\u2019t high enough to melt glaciers and the ice cap. But that\u2019s not to say large swings in temperature didn\u2019t occur. <\/p>\n\n

For example, Vostok in the middle of the ice plateau hit a provisional high of -17.7\u2103 (15\u2103 higher than previous record of -32.6\u2103). Concordia<\/a>, the Italian-French research station also on the high plateau, experienced its highest ever temperature for any month, which was about 40\u2103 above the March average. <\/p>\n\n

\n \"Air<\/a>\n
\n Air temperature anomalies across Antarctica at 2m above ground for the Mar 18. 2022.<\/span>\n ClimateReanalyzer.org<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

The story is very different on the coast as rain fell, which isn\u2019t really common for the continent.<\/p>\n\n

The rain was driven primarily by an atmospheric river<\/a> \u2013 a narrow band of moisture collected from warm oceans. Atmospheric rivers are found on the edge of low pressure systems and can move large amounts of water across vast distances, at scales greater than continents.<\/p>\n\n

Despite their rarity, atmospheric rivers make an important contribution to the continent\u2019s ice sheets, as they dump relatively large amounts of snow. When surface temperatures rise above freezing, rain rather than snow falls over Antarctica. <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Last Monday (March 14) air temperatures at the Australian Casey Station reached a maximum of -1.9\u2103. Two days later, they were more like mid-summer temperatures, reaching a new March maximum of 5.6\u2103, which will melt ice. <\/p>\n\n

This is the second heatwave at Casey Station in two years<\/a>. In February 2020, Casey hit 9.2\u2103, followed by a shocking high of 18.3\u2103<\/a> on the Antarctic Peninsula. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what might this mean for wildlife?<\/p>\n\n

Ad\u00e9lie penguins, which live across the entire Antarctic coastline, have recently finished their summer breeding. But thankfully, the Ad\u00e9lie penguin chicks had already left for sea to start hunting for food on their own, so the heatwave did not impact them. <\/p>\n\n

The rain may have affected the local plant life, such as mosses<\/a>, especially as they were in their annual phase of drying out for the winter. But we won\u2019t know if there\u2019s any damage to the plants until next summer when we can visit the moss beds again.<\/p>\n\n

\n \"Snow\n
\n Snow on moss beds outside Casey research station 21 March 2022.<\/span>\n Chris Gallagher<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

What about the Arctic?<\/h2>\n\n

A similar weather pattern occurred last week in the Arctic. An intense low pressure system began forming off the north-east coast of the United States. An atmospheric river formed at its junction with an adjacent high pressure system. <\/p>\n\n

This weather pattern funnelled warm air into the Arctic circle. Svalbald, in Norway, recorded a new maximum temperature of 3.9\u2103<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

US researchers called the low pressure system a \u201cbomb cyclone<\/a>\u201d because it formed so rapidly, undergoing the delightfully termed \u201cbombogenesis\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

\n \"Arctic<\/a>\n
\n Arctic air temperature anomalies at 2 metres above the ground for March 17, 2022.<\/span>\n ClimateReanalyzer.org<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

Winter sea ice conditions this year were already very low, and on land there was recent record-breaking rain across Greenland<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

If the warm conditions cause sea ice to break up earlier than normal, it could have dire impacts for many animals. For example, sea ice is a crucial habitat for polar bears, enabling them to hunt seals and travel long distances.<\/p>\n\n

\n \"\"<\/a>\n
\n Early melting of Arctic ice sheets could have dire consequences for polar bears.<\/span>\n Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

Many people live in the Arctic, including Arctic Indigenous people, and we know losing sea ice<\/a> disrupts subsistence hunting and cultural practices. <\/p>\n\n

What\u2019s more, the bomb cyclone weather system brought chaotic weather<\/a> to many populated areas of the Northern Hemisphere. In northern Norway, for instance, flowers have began blooming early due to three weeks of abnormally warm weather.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

A harbinger for the future<\/h2>\n\n

Modelling suggests large-scale climate patterns are become more variable. This means this seemingly one-off heatwave may be a harbinger for the future under climate change. <\/p>\n\n

In particular, the Arctic has been warming twice as fast<\/a> as the rest of the world. This is because the melting sea ice reveals more ocean beneath, and the ocean absorbs more heat as it\u2019s darker.<\/p>\n\n

In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects Arctic sea ice to continue its current retreat, with ice-free summers<\/a> possible by the 2050s.<\/p>\n\n

Antarctica\u2019s future looks similarly concerning. The IPCC finds global warming between 2\u2103 and 3\u2103 this century would see the West Antarctic Ice Sheet almost completely lost<\/a>. Bringing global emissions down to net zero as fast as possible will help avoid the worst impacts of climate change.\"The<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dana M Bergstrom<\/a>, Principal Research Scientist, University of Wollongong<\/a><\/em>; Sharon Robinson<\/a>, Professor, University of Wollongong<\/a><\/em>, and Simon Alexander<\/a>, Atmospheric scientist, University of Tasmania<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Windmill Islands, near Casey Research Station, Antarctica Dana M Bergstrom, Author provided Dana M Bergstrom, University of Wollongong;…\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":4010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,11],"tags":[297,509,120,474],"class_list":{"0":"post-4009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-earth","8":"category-nature","9":"tag-antarctica","10":"tag-arctic","11":"tag-climate-change","12":"tag-the-conversation","13":"cs-entry","14":"cs-video-wrap"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4009"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4020,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4009\/revisions\/4020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}