Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Antarctica is heading for its coldest, darkest day of the year, but the continent doesn't seem to have gotten the memo...
Because despite being midwinter, temperatures have soared recently, breaking June temperature records and melting snow and ice.
And in the oceans around the Antarctic, there's much less floating sea ice than there should be for this time of year. So... what's behind it?
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## Contents
00:00 - Why isn't it winter
00:46 - A teeny rant about a THING
01:10 - Extreme temperatures
02:33 - Causes of heat
03:48 - Patrons keep this channel alive
03:33 - Sea ice is crashing... again
08:33 - It's no coincidence
09:13 - Sea ice loss has consequences
11:48 - Antarctic change
14:38 - Community is everything
#Antarctica #ClimateCrisis #SeaIce
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Thank you SO MUCH to all my fabulous patrons, I really appreciate your support. Special thanks to my Patreon Saints: Steven Cowling, Eliot Bryant, Baerbel Winkler, Patrick Hillberg, Michael Unterweger, James Harley Gorrell, Gary Stark, Charles Vane, Sarah Den & Mark Brandon ♥️
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References and Resources
Goldberg et al. (2026) agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL118823
Chartrand et al (2024) tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/4971/2024
Antonio et al. (2026) doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-24-0190.1
Kusahara & Tatebe (2025) agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2025GL115256
Wells-Moran et al (2026) eartharxiv.org/repository/view/11574
theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/13/antarcticas-west-coast-missing-an-area-of-sea-ice-the-size-of-france-as-temperatures-peak-20c-above-average
euronews.com/2026/06/13/a-huge-anomaly-antarctica-records-winter-temperatures-20c-warmer-than-normal
newscientist.com/article/2526826-the-doomsday-glaciers-giant-ice-shelf-is-about-to-break-away
livescience.com/planet-earth/antarctica/the-doomsday-glacier-is-poised-to-lose-its-ice-shelf-this-year-an-antarctic-researcher-explains-what-that-means-for-global-sea-levels
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-14/west-antarctica-ice-fails-to-form-area-size-of-france/106794526
bas.ac.uk/news/new-verified-temperature-record-for-antarctic-continent
frontiersin.org/news/2026/02/20/scientists-reveal-best-worst-case-scenarios-warming-antarctica-frontiers-environmental-science
Additional material from:
Ross Burgener, ET, NOAA/OAR/ESRL/GMD,
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey
Antarctica is heading for its coldest, darkest day of the year, but the continent doesn't seem to have gotten the memo...
Because despite being midwinter, temperatures have soared recently, breaking June temperature records and melting snow and ice.
And in the oceans around the Antarctic, there's much less floating sea ice than there should be for this time of year. So... what's behind it?
##################################################
## Contents
00:00 - Why isn't it winter
00:46 - A teeny rant about a THING
01:10 - Extreme temperatures
02:33 - Causes of heat
03:48 - Patrons keep this channel alive
03:33 - Sea ice is crashing... again
08:33 - It's no coincidence
09:13 - Sea ice loss has consequences
11:48 - Antarctic change
14:38 - Community is everything
#Antarctica #ClimateCrisis #SeaIce
##################################################
Thank you SO MUCH to all my fabulous patrons, I really appreciate your support. Special thanks to my Patreon Saints: Steven Cowling, Eliot Bryant, Baerbel Winkler, Patrick Hillberg, Michael Unterweger, James Harley Gorrell, Gary Stark, Charles Vane, Sarah Den & Mark Brandon ♥️
##################################################
References and Resources
Goldberg et al. (2026) agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL118823
Chartrand et al (2024) tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/4971/2024
Antonio et al. (2026) doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-24-0190.1
Kusahara & Tatebe (2025) agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2025GL115256
Wells-Moran et al (2026) eartharxiv.org/repository/view/11574
theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/13/antarcticas-west-coast-missing-an-area-of-sea-ice-the-size-of-france-as-temperatures-peak-20c-above-average
euronews.com/2026/06/13/a-huge-anomaly-antarctica-records-winter-temperatures-20c-warmer-than-normal
newscientist.com/article/2526826-the-doomsday-glaciers-giant-ice-shelf-is-about-to-break-away
livescience.com/planet-earth/antarctica/the-doomsday-glacier-is-poised-to-lose-its-ice-shelf-this-year-an-antarctic-researcher-explains-what-that-means-for-global-sea-levels
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-14/west-antarctica-ice-fails-to-form-area-size-of-france/106794526
bas.ac.uk/news/new-verified-temperature-record-for-antarctic-continent
frontiersin.org/news/2026/02/20/scientists-reveal-best-worst-case-scenarios-warming-antarctica-frontiers-environmental-science
Additional material from:
Ross Burgener, ET, NOAA/OAR/ESRL/GMD,
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey
