said the continent’s temperatures in June, July and August were 6.1 degrees lower than the 1981 to 2010 average at -81.2 degrees.Scientists said it was the second coldest winter after 2004 in the 60-year weather record at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.RELATED: Pope Francis urges lawmakers to fight climate changeDuring the polar darkness period, from April through September, the average temperature was -77.6 degrees, the coldest on record.
Researchers attributed the extremely cold temperatures to "two extended periods of stronger-than-average encircling winds around the continent, which tend to isolate the ice sheet from warmer conditions." They also noted a strong upper-atmosphere polar vortex that led to a significant ozone hole.RELATE.