A New Island Appeared in Glacier Bay National Park — but Scientists Aren't Happy About It

Landscapes typically take years to develop, but under certain conditions, certain features can form in an instant. From islands forming overnight due to volcanic eruptions to natural sinkholes swallowing the land in minutes, such incidents can be both fascinating to watch and alarming. This can happen due to a variety of reasons, like melting ice due to global warming, tectonic pressure, or erosion. In one such news, a brand-new island has now emerged in a lake within Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park. While it sounds fascinating, scientists believe it’s a troubling sign rather than a reason to be happy about. Scientists got to know about this after having a look at the images captured by NASA satellites.

The new land appeared as a result of ice melting due to climate change, a worrying sign seen near the glaciers worldwide. Over the past few decades, the Alsek Glacier in Alaska has been shrinking rapidly, and the ice that once wrapped around a small mountain called Prow Knob has melted into water. This summer, the melting turned the mountain into a tiny island surrounded by water in the Alsek Lake, as reported by SFGate. In just around four decades, the glacier shrank more than three miles, which is a concerning sign to be focused upon.

It is estimated that the piece of land was separated from the massive iceberg sometime between July 13 and August 6 this year. Mauri Pelto, an expert glaciologist and a professor at Nichols College in Massachusetts, spoke about the concerning scenario and said, “There are a lot of retreating glaciers globally, and they create a lot of new lakes, but new islands are pretty rare. In Alaska, I’m not aware of any island this century that’s formed anywhere near this scale.” He added, “The landscape is certainly one of retreat. To generate a new island requires melt on a pretty massive scale — it’s not every day you’ll see something like this.”

While the Alsek Glacier’s retreat is worrying, Pelto reminds us to keep it in perspective. He said, “The landscape is constantly evolving. You do have glacier retreat generated by climate change, but it’s the evolution of the landscape itself that we can both understand and appreciate. There was a time when all those little San Juan Islands were all surrounded by ice — and then that ice melted, they became islands.” Sadly, the current situation at Glacier Bay National Park has reached a serious point now, as reported by The Travel.

Therefore, the national park is taking active measures to fight environmental damage. For instance, the officials have been encouraging cruise operators to use cleaner fuels, and they have also invested heavily in eco-friendly technologies. Additionally, they work with the Marine World Heritage to support and grow sustainable tourism in the area. As a result of this, most of the park’s energy now comes from a local hydroelectric power plant, and more than half of its waste is recycled through an award-winning program. These steps can also be adapted worldwide to reduce the impact of climate change and global warming.

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