- “Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists,” wrote the British newspaper the Guardian last month.
- “The coldest location on the planet has experienced an episode of warm weather this week unlike any ever observed, with temperatures over the eastern Antarctic ice sheet soaring 50 to 90 degrees above normal,” wrote the Washington Post (via MSN.com). “The warmth has smashed records and shocked scientists.”
Not so fast, says Anthony Watts of the widely read blog Watts Up with That?
First, the Arctic weather stations aren’t actually at the North Pole. “The northernmost weather station is Alert, Nunavut and it is 817 km (508 mi) from the North Pole. That’s like trying to gauge the temperature in Indianapolis from a warmer temperature reading in Atlanta.”
Equally important, the report is not about actual temperatures but from a model that estimates temperatures. Says Watts:
“And, looking at actual [Antartica] data, there’s no ‘heat wave’ at all. “
Check it out. Maps provided.
Image of Emperor penguins in the Antarctic is by Barbara Dougherty on Pixabay.
Correction: As corrected above, Watts Up With That? is not British.