Antarctica has logged its hottest temperature on record, with an Argentinian research station thermometer reading 18.3°C, beating the previous record by 0.8°C.

The reading, taken at Esperanza on the northern tip of the continent’s peninsula, beats Antarctica’s previous record of 17.5°C, set in March 2015, the Guardian reported.

A tweet from Argentina’s meteorological agency on Friday revealed the record. The station’s data goes back to 1961.

Antarctica’s peninsula — the area that points towards South America — is one of the fastest warming places on earth, heating by almost 3°C over the past 50 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Almost all the region’s glaciers are melting.

The Esperanza reading breaks the record for the Antarctic continent. The record for the Antarctic region — that is, everywhere south of 60 degrees latitude — is 19.8°C, taken on Signy Island in January 1982.

Read the full article in the Iran Daily, featuring commentary by Prof Nerilie Abram