For the first time in history, a temperature above 20 degrees Celsius has been recorded on the ice-covered continent of Antarctica, at the far south of the world. The reading was taken recently on Seymour Island, at the region's northernmost tip.

Brazilian researcher Carlos Schaefer told the news agency AFP on Thursday that a temperature above 20C was recorded on the continent for the first time on 9 February, when the mercury rose to 20.75C.

"We have never seen such a high temperature in Antarctica before," he said. The previous highest temperature recorded there was 19C.

The researcher is not ready to call this an effect of global warming yet, because the high temperature lasted only a very short time and was not sustained. In Carlos's view, it is merely a sign that something unusual was happening in the area.

Only about a week earlier, Argentina's national meteorological service said it had recorded a highest temperature of 18.3C in Argentine Antarctica. The previous record for that area was 17.5C, set on 24 March 2015.

Last month the United Nations said the past decade was the warmest in history, with 2016 the hottest year, followed by 2019. Scientists fear the trend will continue in 2020, because last month set a record as the warmest January ever.

Scientists say global warming is melting the ice at both ends of the Earth. This will submerge large parts of coastal countries, endanger the natural environment and leave hundreds of millions of people around the world homeless.

Source: Online Desk. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.