Scientists Alarmed as Huge Heatwave Hits Antarctica — Here’s Why

Antarctica is in winter, the season when sea ice should be expanding and the continent’s frozen edges should be locked in deep cold. Instead, parts of the Antarctic Peninsula have recorded temperatures more than 20C above normal, with ice melting and rain falling where snow should be building.

The event centred on the northern Antarctic Peninsula in early June 2026, with Argentina’s Esperanza Base recording 15.4C on June 6. Scientists are alarmed not because one warm day will suddenly raise seas, but because the heatwave arrived alongside a huge winter sea-ice gap in the Bellingshausen Sea.