Antarctic Peninsula Now Almost as Warm as 12,000 Years Ago

Antarctic Peninsula Now Almost as Warm as 12,000 Years Ago

The Antarctic Peninsula, which juts out about 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) from the western flank of the frozen continent, is one of the fastest warming places on Earth. In the past 50 years, the air temperature has increased by about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius). While this rate of warming is highly unusual, it is not unprecedented, indicates a new study.

The rapid, modern warming is bringing the peninsula’s temperatures close to the warmth that followed the end of the last ice age, said lead researcher Richard Mulvaney, a paleoclimatologist with the British Antarctic Survey.