UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Antarctic Record Temperature - WMO
/
2:10
/
MP4
/
160.7 MB

Edited News | UNOG , WMO

UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Antarctic Record Temperature - WMO

Fresh fears of accelerating damage to the planet’s ice sheets and sea level rise have been fuelled by confirmation from the UN’s weather agency that the Antarctic likely saw a new temperature record of more than 18C on Thursday.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, spokesperson Clare Nullis from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that the record reading taken in the north of the continent would be considered unusual, even in the warmer summer months.

“The Argentine research base, which is called Esperanza, it’s on the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula; it set a new record temperature yesterday: 18.3C, which is not a figure you would normally associate with Antarctica even in summertime. This beat the former record of 17.5C, which was set back in 2015.”

Experts at WMO will now verify whether the temperature extreme is a new record for the Antarctic continent, which is defined as the main continental landmass.

It should not be confused with the Antarctic region, which is everywhere south of 60 degrees latitude, and where the record temperature of 19.8C was recorded on Signy Island in January 1982.

The WMO experts are expected to examine the meteorological conditions surrounding the event, particularly whether it is associated with a weather phenomenon known as "foehn".

A common feature of life in Alpine regions, episodes of foehn often involve high winds at altitude and the rapid warming of air as it heads down slopes or peaks, driven by significant air pressure differences.

“It’s among the fastest-warming regions of the planet,” Ms. Nullis said of the Antarctic. “We hear a lot about the Arctic, but this particular part of the Antarctic peninsula is warming very quickly. Over the past 50 years it’s warmed almost 3C.”

Amid steadily warming temperatures, Ms. Nullis also noted that the amount of ice lost annually from the Antarctic ice sheet “increased at least six-fold between 1979 and 2017”.

Most of this ice loss happens when ice shelves melt from below, as they come into contact with relatively warm ocean water, she explained.

Melting is especially marked in west Antarctica, according to WMO, and to a lesser extent along the peninsula and in east Antarctica.

Turning to glacier melt, Ms. Nullis warned that around “87 per cent of glaciers along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula have retreated in the last 50 years, with most of these showing an accelerated retreat in the last 12 years”.

Concern is particularly high over the main glacier tributaries to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, in particular the Pine Island glacier, where two large rifts that were first spotted in early 2019 have each grown to some 20 kilometres long.

“There’s quite a lot of conversation on Twitter at the moment; the satellite image showing cracks in the Pine Island glacier in Antarctica,” Ms. Nullis. “They’ve been growing rapidly over the past few days. The European Union has a satellite called Sentinel that’s been measuring and monitoring these, and you know, there are pretty dramatic images.”

Roughly twice the size of Australia, the Antarctic is cold, windy and dry. The average annual temperature ranges from about minus 10C on the Antarctic coast to minus 60C at the highest points of the interior.

Its immense ice sheet is up to 4.8 kilometres thick and contains 90 per cent of the world’s fresh water, enough to raise sea level by around 60 metres were it all to melt.

In a key report last September from the highly respected UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), researchers warned that hundreds of millions of people are at risk from melting ice in the planet’s polar regions, linked to sea level rise.

  1. Wide shot: flag alley, UN Palais des Nations, Geneva.
  2. Wide shot: press room, UN Palais des Nations, Geneva.
  3. Close-up: showing pen underlining notes on press release, profile.
  4. SOUNDBITE (English)—Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “The Argentine research base, which is called Esperanza, it’s on the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula; it set a new record temperature yesterday: 18.3 degrees Celsius which is not a figure you would normally associate with Antarctica even in summertime. This beat the former record of 17.5 degrees C which was set back in 2015.”
  5. Close-up: hands typing on laptops, semi-profile.
  6. SOUNDBITE (English)— Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “It’s among the fastest-warming regions of the planet; we hear a lot about the Arctic, but this particular part of the Antarctic peninsula is warming very quickly. Over the past 50 years it’s warmed almost three degrees Celsius.”
  7. Medium shot: journalists and TV camera crews in the press room, UN Palais des Nations, Geneva.
  8. SOUNDBITE (English)— Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “The amount of ice lost annually from the Antarctic ice sheet increased at least six-fold between 1979 and 2017.”
  9. Close-up: journalist typing on laptop in foreground, other journalists to rear of shot.
  10. SOUNDBITE (English)— Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Some 87 per cent of glaciers along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula have retreated in the last 50 years with most of these showing an accelerated retreat in the last 12 years.”
  11. Close up: journalist in foreground looking at laptop screen, other journalists to rear of shot.
  12. SOUNDBITE (English)— Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “There’s quite a lot of conversation on Twitter at the moment; the satellite image showing cracks in the Pine Island glacier in Antarctica. They’ve been growing rapidly over the past few days. The European Union has a satellite called Sentinel that’s been measuring and monitoring these, and you know, there are pretty dramatic images.”
  13. Close-up: journalist wearing headphones in foreground, another looking down to rear of shot.
  14. Medium shot: journalists in foreground, podium with speakers and partly obscured UN logo.
  15. Close-up: partly obscured shot of journalist looking at laptop screen with hand on chin.

Similar Stories

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on attacks around aid sites in Gaza

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on attacks around aid sites in Gaza ENG FRA

“Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable. For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This morning, we have received information that dozens more people were killed and injured,” Jeremy Laurence UN Human Rights spokesperson said at the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.

Gaza aid update - OCHA 30 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA

Gaza aid update - OCHA 30 May 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza ‘hungriest place on earth’ with aid stymied – UN humanitarians

Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.

Gaza humanitarian update - OCHA, UNRWA

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , UNRWA

Gaza humanitarian update - OCHA, UNRWA ENG FRA

As a controversial United States and Israel-backed aid distribution plan gets underway in Gaza, the UN called on Tuesday for an “immediate surge” of its own pre-positioned supplies to help prevent starvation.

Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani  urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject a bill that was recently endorsed by parliament allowing trials of civilians in military courts. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Amendment Bill 2025, which was passed on 20 May and now awaits presidential signature to become law, among others broadens the jurisdiction of military courts, authorising them to try a wide range of offences against civilians.

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan at the bi-weekly briefing in Geneva.

Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , WHO

Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025 ENG FRA

Syria: ‘Staggering’ needs amid insecurity, health care crisis  - UN humanitarians

Millions of people in Syria continue to face mortal danger from unexploded munitions, disease and malnutrition and urgent support is required, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | UNRWA , OCHA , WHO

Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO ENG FRA

UN life-saving aid allowed to trickle into Gaza as civilian needs mount

Amid calls for more humanitarian trucks to enter the food and medicine-deprived Palestinian enclave of Gaza, UN humanitarians have received permission from Israel for “around 100” more aid trucks to cross into the Strip after only five were let in yesterday,  But the scale of relief efforts allowed remains entirely insufficient to meet the urgent needs of people there, humanitarian workers say.

Press vests becoming a target - war reporter Christina Assi

1

1

1

Edited News

Press vests becoming a target - war reporter Christina Assi ENG FRA

A war reporter from Lebanon who lost a limb in the line of duty is calling for an end to impunity for attacks against journalists.

ITU 160th Anniversary - 17 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | ITU

ITU 160th Anniversary - 17 May 2025 ENG FRA

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) commemorated 160 years dedicated to connecting the world on Saturday, 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland, during the annual World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO , OCHA

Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025 ENG FRA

Gazans ‘in terror’ after another night of deadly strikes and siege

Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza into Friday killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas and pleaded for the blockade to end.

UN Human Rights raises human rights concerns about deportations from the United States of America

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights raises human rights concerns about deportations from the United States of America ENG FRA

Deportations over recent months of large numbers of non-nationals from the United States of America, especially to countries other than those of their origin, raise a number of human rights concerns, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned on Tuesday.   

Gaza health update - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza health update - WHO ENG FRA

Gaza: Over 50 child malnutrition deaths amid aid blockade; entire generation will be ‘permanently affected’ - WHO

In the aid desert of Gaza, malnourished children are dying while survivors can expect a lifetime of dire health problems, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.