Record setting temperatures are occurring at the Earth's poles, yet another unmistakable sign of global warming. Parts of Antarctica are as much as 70℉ warmer than average, and Arctic temperatures are 50℉ warmer [red areas on charts]. A scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, CO said the temperatures in opposite seasons was, "definitely an unusual occurrence", in a stroke of masterful understatement. Climate scientists are worried that this freakish situation could be a signal of faster climate breakdown than previously estimated.
Antartica's warming is unusual because it is occurring in part of the continent that was largely unaffected until now. Attention has been focused on the peninsula, which is loosing ice and warming rapidly. Antarctica's ice sheet melted to a record low point in February loosing 741,000 miles². The two-mile high Vostok station beat its previous record high temperature of 0℉ by 27 degrees.