Yesterday, Esperanza Base located on the Antarctic Peninsula recorded the highest measured temperature in the continent’s history. Greenpeace was there to bear witness during the conclusion of the Protect the Oceans campaign’s Pole to Pole expedition.
In response to the record, Frida Bengtsson, currently leading a Greenpeace expedition to the Antarctic, said:
“We’ve been in the Antarctic for the last month, documenting the dramatic changes this part of the world is undergoing as our planet warms. The reports of continental Antarctic temperature records being broken at the Esperanza Base are indeed shocking but sadly not surprising as Antarctica is warming with the rest of our planet. Although such extreme events rightly capture the headlines, we need to remember that they occur against an even more worrying trend of long-term increase in average temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula.
“In the last month, we’ve seen penguin colonies sharply declining under the impacts of climate change in this supposedly pristine environment. To protect the Antarctic and other unique ecosystems like it, we must stop burning fossil fuels and protect our blue planet with a strong new Global Ocean Treaty that will pave the way for at least 30% of our oceans to be off limits to human activity.”
ENDS
Photo and video are available here.
Contact: Crystal Mojica, Senior Communications Specialist, Greenpeace USA: +1 (646) 530-1581, [email protected]
