南極を襲った異常な熱波、最北端の島はわずか９日で２０％の雪解け
2020.02.25 Tue posted at 11:29 JST
南極の気温、観測史上最高を記録
（ＣＮＮ） 南極大陸の北端が今月に入り、９日間続く熱波に覆われた。この影響で、北東部のイーグル島では島を覆っていた雪の２０％が溶けていたことが米航空宇宙局（ＮＡＳＡ）の観測で判明。気候変動の影響が広がりつつある現状を見せつけた。
ＮＡＳＡは今月、南極大陸を覆った熱波の始まった時と終わった時のイーグル島の画像を撮影した。９日間の熱波が終わるまでには、雪が解けて地表が現れ、雪解けの水たまりができていた。
南極の最高気温は今月に入り、観測史上最も高い１８．２度を観測した。この日、米カリフォルニア州ロサンゼルスで観測した気温と同じだった。
イーグル島ではわずか１週間あまりで約１０センチの雪が解けた。これは同島でこの冬に積もった雪の総量の約２０％に当たる。
世界一寒いはずの南極で、これほどの速さで雪が解けるのは極めて異例。夏季でさえも稀（まれ）だった。
専門家によると、今回の熱波は気温の高い日が続いたことによるもので、こうした現象は２１世紀に入るまで、ほぼ発生したことはなかった。
ＮＡＳＡによると、今月に入り、南米チリのホーン岬上空が高気圧に覆われて気温が高くなった。南極大陸北端の半島は、例年であれば南半球を横断する強風に阻まれて、そうした暖気からは守られる。ところが今年は異常に風が弱く、南極大陸北端への暖気の流入が止まらなかった。
南極大陸を覆う氷は、人が排出する温暖化ガスの影響で、既に急速に解け始めている。海面が上昇すれば、世界の沿岸部に住む何百万人もの人に壊滅的な影響が及びかねないと世界気象機関は警鐘を鳴らしている。
Translation
(CNN) Entering this
month the northern tip of Antarctica had been covered by a nine-day heat wave.
As a result, NASA observations revealed that 20% of the snow that covered the
island on Eagle Island in the northeast had melted. It showed that the effects
of climate change were spreading.
NASA captured images of Eagle Island this month at the
beginning and end of the heat wave that was covering Antarctica. By the end of the
nine-day heat wave, the snow melted and land surfaces appeared, pools of
water were formed from the melted ice.
The highest temperature in South Pole was observed this month,
the highest temperature in Antarctica had reached 18.2 degrees. The
temperature observed on that day was the same as that in Los Angeles, California.
On Eagle Island in just over a week about 10 cm of snow
melted. This was about 20% of the total snow accumulated on the island this
winter.
In South Pole, the coldest place in the world, it was
extremely unusual for snow to thaw at such a fast rate. It was rare even in
summer.
According to experts, the heat wave was due to a series of
hot days, and this phenomenon had rarely occurred until the turn of the 21st
century.
According to NASA, entering this month the Cape Horn in
Chile of South America was covered by high pressure and the temperature went up.
The northernmost peninsula of Antarctica was usually protected from such warm
air by strong winds crossing the Southern Hemisphere. However, the wind was
unusually weak this year, and the flow of warm air to the northern tip of
Antarctica could not be stopped.
The ice that covered Antarctica had already begun to melt
quickly due to the greenhouse gases emitted by humans. The World Meteorological
Organization warned that rising sea levels could have catastrophic effects
on millions of people living along the coasts of the world.
So, global
warming is affecting the South Pole, surely it will have a huge impact on other
areas globally as a consequence.
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