Winter Snow Melting in Antarctica

Antarctica is a cold dark place in the winter. The sun does not come up for months on end and there is absolutely not heat coming from the sun. So, when scientist found ponds on top of glaciers as large as 50km in length there had to be another reason for it. A glacier scientist named Peter Kuipers Munneke was informed of a temperature reading of 8°C in the middle of May when the temperature should have been somewhere around -25°c. His immediate reaction was that it had to be broken but upon further investigation he realized it was correct. The high temperatures were caused by a wind known as the Hairdryer winds. it is a trade wind that last a couple days and can increase temperatures dramatically. The main fear of seeing this temperature was rising sea levels but that theory was put to rest when looking at satellite images and seeing that the ponds eventually refroze before summer. These ponds could eventually cause the ice sheets to weaken and break off from the main land then melting and eventually cause sea level rise but scientist believe that won't happen for a little while.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-huston/11-inspirational-photos-a_b_12344930.html



https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180502104045.htm