Antarctica Gets First Documented Heat Wave

Olivia Wick, Reporter

Obviously the media right now is filled with never-ending news about the pandemic- which it should be to warn people of its concerns- but at the same time, it has left little room for any other news and in course has left new events in the dark. As protests have been moved from the streets to online, the surge for environmental action has slowed down a little bit as it is taking a break from the public eye. But recently, from February 21st to March 31st of 2020, scientists documented the first ever heat wave to ever hit Antarctica in the history of mankind. From the word heatwave itself, it is hard to imagine the traumatic effects that enfolded on the continent. Within just 9 days of the heatwave, it managed to melt 20% of a whole island. When you picture Antarctica, the first words that come to mind are ‘freezing cold’. You expect it to be below 0 degrees year round, according to past documentation of the continent. But on day nine of this extreme heating, Antarctica peaked its hottest recorded temperature record at a whopping 64.9 degrees fahrenheit (according to NASA’s Earth Observatory). It hadn’t even been that warm for us here in Colorado where we are situated at a normal longitude until early last week (the first week of April). Although recent signs of our environment’s recovery point to a sign we are doing right- this is a problem we can not simply take a break from. We can not use this time to let ourselves believe we have bought ourselves more time from the breaking point of nature. After this pandemic, it is predicted that carbon emissions will be at an all time high with factory productions trying to recover from the world’s falling economy. This is the time that we need to figure out a plan- a plan that may save the world from this crisis.