Antarctica, considered to be the coldest place on earth, witnessed mercury rise like never before, as it recorded its highest temperature at 18.3°C, according to a news report by The Guardian.
Last time when such temperatures were recorded was in March 2015 when the mercury level had gone up to 17.5°C.
Prof James Renwick, a climate scientist at Victoria University of Wellington, was quoted in The Guardian Australia as saying:
“Of course the record does need to be checked, but pending those checks, it’s a perfectly valid record and that [temperature] station is well maintained.”
It was a tweet from the meteorological station in Argentina, which has been recording temperatures since 1961, that revealed the rise in temperature in Antarctica:
The latest reading is yet to be verified by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), reported CNN.
"Everything we have seen thus far indicates a likely legitimate record ...," Randall Cerveny was quoted in a press release, according to the CNN report.
In an election year, some politicians took to Twitter to express concern and dismay at the rising temperatures in Antarctica.
Climate activist, Greta Thunberg, who had appealed to world leaders at the UN last year to bring down pollution levels also took to social media to reiterate concerns about the drastic change in environment.
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