It was the same temperature in Cairo and Antarctica today
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
If you're reading this from Antarctica, you're going to want to take off your coat. You'll probably want to change into a T-shirt and shorts, too. Heck, don a pair of flip-flops while you're at it — it's a sweltering 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit on the planet's southernmost continent today, Reuters reports.
To put that in perspective: At the time of publication, it is the same temperature in Cairo, Egypt.
Antarctica's record temperature was recorded at an Argentine research base, which sits at the northern tip of the continent's peninsula. The heat record for anywhere south of 60 degrees latitude is 67.6 degrees, recorded Jan. 30, 1982, on Signy Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The warmest it's ever been on the Antarctic plateau above 8,202 feet is 19 degrees, in 1980.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Antarctica more often sets the other kind of record: The coldest temperature on Earth was 128.6 degrees below zero, recorded at Vostok station in central Antarctica in 1983.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
