Global warming creates new Arctic island
© RIA Novosti. Ilya Timin

Global warming creates new Arctic island

High school students from Chuvashia, headed by a student from Moscow's Aviation Institute, have discovered a new Arctic island formed by global warming, according to the Institute's press service.

"The new island has an area of about 110 hectares, and it is 1.9 kilometers long and one kilometer wide. After the geographical discovery is officially confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry's Hydrography Service, a research expedition will leave for the island. Expedition members will map the island, describe it in great detail and take images of it," the press release notes.

While analyzing geographical maps and satellite photos of the surface of the Kara Sea, school students noticed that Cape Zemlyanoi on Schmidt Island was no longer linked with the main island. To confirm the discovery of a new island, they requested detailed satellite photos from Roscosmos.

The press release quotes Moscow Aviation Institute student Artyom Makarenko as saying: "It appears that a strip of land linking both territories has disappeared due to global warming. Quite possibly, the isthmus consisted of soft and porous substances and was eroded by rapidly melting nearby glaciers. A glacier discharged streams of melt water and eroded the strip of land linking the cape with the island."