It’s hot times for the Earth coldest continent, as Antarctica registered its highest temperature ever this month when it reached a balmy 68 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a report Thursday.
That’s 40 degrees warmer than the typical low temperatures in February in New York City, where an average cold night is 28.9 degrees Fahrenheit.
“We have never seen anything like this,” scientist Carlos Schaefer told The Guardian.
The penguin-tormenting high temperature was recorded at 1 p.m. on Feb. 9 by Brazilian scientists on Seymour Island, where it is currently the summer season for the Southern Hemisphere.
Schaefer, who monitors the Antarctic climate for the Brazilian government, says climate change is interacting with shifts in ocean currents and the ocean-warming climate cycle known as El Nino.