"Real"Climate guest blogger surprised that the Antarctic coast was up to 20 degrees F. warmer long before your SUV allegedly overheated it

RealClimate: My oh Miocene!

...we found the Antarctic coast was covered with tundra vegetation for some periods between 20 million and 15.5 million years ago. These findings are based on the isotopic composition of plant leaf waxes in marine sediments.

That temperatures were warm at that time was not a huge surprise; surprising, was how much warmer things were – up to 11ºC (20ºF) warmer at the Antarctic coast!