Uncharted Island, once submerged under ice, exposes the threat of climate change on our oceans.
Researchers of the Thwaites Glacier Research project recently discovered an uncharted island after melting ice allowed it to be seen for the first time.
The Island has been dubbed, “Sif Island,” after the Norse Goddess of the Earth and spans a distance of just 350 meters. Scientists uncovered that the foundation, made out of volcanic granite, was buried under heavy ice for thousands of years.
Glacial marine geoscientist, Julia Smith Wellner, was among the first visitors to the Island and made the announcement public on her Twitter,
“After being the first visitors, we can now confirm that Sif Island is made of granite and that it is covered by remnant ice shelf, and a few seals.”
The outcome of this discovery is an increase in awareness on how climate change is affecting Antarctica– which is already known as one of the fastest-warming regions on Earth.
The good news is that the new island may be used to uncover more information on how the ice (which covers 90% of Antarctica) is responding to climate change.
Images from: Stuart Ranken/Flikr
The Thwaites Glacier rests in one of the most dangerous areas of West Antarctica known as the ‘doomsday glacier.’ Its gruesome name refers to the looming threat that it will one day break apart and drain so much freshwater into the ocean that sea levels will rise by more than two feet!
Antarctica has faced a massive loss in ice over the last 25 years. It is reported that 8.5 billion tons of ice had been lost a year between 1994 to 2011.
According to a report in the journal Nature, that number skyrocketed to a staggering 241 billion from 2012 to 2017.
Want to learn more about the detrimental effects of climate change? Can Climate Change Be Stopped Or Is It Too Late?
