Published: March 2,2017
The continent of Antarctica has set a new high-temperature record of 63.5 degrees, a committee of experts from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced Wednesday.
Set on March 24, 2015, the positively balmy temperature was recorded at the Argentine Research Base Esperanza, near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The previous record of 59 degrees was set at Vanda Station on Jan. 5, 1974, according to a WMO statement published in EOS.
While it may seem quite a bit of time elapsed from the date the record was set and Wednesday's announcement, scientists say it can take years before climate records can be verified.
According to Randall Cerveny, chief rapporteur of climate and weather extremes for the WMO, meteorological data and accuracy of weather stations must be authenticated before an announcement can be made. In addition, scientists also need to define the three Antarctic regions, he told USA Today.
The report noted that while the record for the continent is 63.5, the high-temperature record for the entire Antarctic Region — an area that includes all land and ice south of 60 degrees south latitude — is 67.6 degrees and was set on Signy Island in January 1982.
(PHOTOS: Eerie, Abandoned Sites of Antarctica)
Knowledge of and verifying all of these "extremes is important in the study of weather patterns, naturally occurring climate variability and human-induced climate change," the WMO said in the statement.
The world's lowest temperature, recorded at the Soviet Union's Vostok Station in Antarctica on July 21, 1983, remains the same — a brutally cold 128.6 degrees below zero.
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