Antarctica is known for being a vast land of ice and snow, a place too cold for most life. Despite this, the continent is slowly starting to turn warm. According to the Guardian, the Antarctic has registered a new high temperature for the first time on record, prompting fears of climate instability in the world's iciest place.

On Feb 9, Brazilian researchers at Seymour Island reported a temperature of 20.75 °C on the icy continent of Antarctica. It was almost a full degree higher than the previous record of 19.8 °C, taken on Signy Island in January 1982.

This record-breaking reading was taken at a monitoring station in the northern part of Antarctica. According to Brazilian soil scientist Carlos Schaefer, the temperature was documented during a 20-year-long research project. The focus of this project is to study the effect that climate change has on the permafrost within the region. Permafrost is soil that stays frozen for at least two years.

But in fact, the last high temperature reading was in the 19 °C range. These higher temperatures can cause ice and glaciers in Antarctic regions to melt. The Antarctic peninsula – the long finger of land that stretches towards Argentina – is most dramatically affected. Scientists saw glaciers that have retreated by more than 100 meters in Discovery Bay where the snow melted in little more than a week, leaving dark exposed rock. This melted ice leads to a rise in sea levels that can threaten the safety of coastal areas. It's believed to be behind an alarming decline of more than 50 percent in chinstrap penguin colonies, which are dependent on sea ice.

Like American writer Ernest Hemingway once said, "The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for." We should do everything we can to help save our planet. Otherwise, it may become too hot for us to fix.