Antarctica: a remote continent at centre of the global climate system, by Dr Tom Bracegirdle

About Antarctica: a remote continent at centre of the global climate system, by Dr Tom Bracegirdle

A talk by Dr Tom Bracegirdle of the British Antarctic Survey.
Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, most remote continent on Earth and the seas that
surround it generate the coldest densest water in the world’s ocean. These conditions
contribute to making Antarctica a fascinating and challenging region to study. This talk will
start with an overview of our current understanding of the weather and climate of Antarctica,
including its ice sheets and seas. This will include insights into what it’s like to live and work
in Antarctica.
Until recently many aspects of the Antarctic climate
system had been changing relatively gradually. However, this appears to be changing. The
most extreme ‘heatwave’ ever recorded globally occurred over East Antarctica in March
2022 when surface temperature anomalies of up to 38.5 °C were observed.
Dr Bracegirdle will present some of the latest science on how and why Antarctica is changing and why it matters to us in the UK.