Antarctica hits warmest temperature ever recorded

The Antarctic Peninsula recorded a high of 65 degrees this week, the hottest temperature ever recorded there.

The reading was taken Thursday at Esperanza Base along Antarctica’s Trinity Peninsula.

That temperature is hotter than the previous record of 63.5 degrees from March 2015. Thursday’s temperature still needs to be officially verified, according to The Washington Post.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) blamed climate change for the high reading in a tweet on Thursday, as did Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The Democratic presidential candidate on Friday called the record “insane” and said climate change “is an existential threat to humanity.”

“We must mobilize America and the rest of the world accordingly,” Sanders warned.

The Argentine research base Esperanza, on the northern tip of #Antarctic Peninsula, saw a new record temperature of 18.3°C today (old one 17.5°C on 24 March 2015), per @SMN_Argentina.
Details of previous record at https://t.co/19Un83mmHn#ClimateChange pic.twitter.com/ZKvzr765Am

— WMO | OMM (@WMO) February 6, 2020

Spring weather in Antarctica is truly insane.

Climate change is an existential threat to humanity. We must mobilize America and the rest of the world accordingly. https://t.co/gR37EIutSA

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 7, 2020

It’s been a hot decade, according to WMO, which found that the 10-year period of 2010 through 2019 was “almost certain” to be the hottest ever recorded, based on average temperatures.

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also found that 2019 was the second hottest year on record.