The melting of the polar ice caps is a problem of great concern to scientists, as the consequences can be traumatic for humans and for the Earth. In fact, they already are. Now, NASA has confirmed the birth of a new island in Lake Alsek. This island on Prow Knob emerged after a glacier melted. This is a clear example of how this change in temperatures and weather patterns is affecting the planet.
The ice masses of southern Alaska have slowly sculpted the landscape, carving valleys, raising ice walls, and burying entire mountains
If this isn’t scary, we don’t know what is. The melting is so severe that it’s not only affecting species, but it’s also unearthing islands. Literally. A recent NASA Earth Observatory study documented how the island gradually broke away from the glacier until it completely separated between mid-July and early August of this year. For millennia, the ice masses of southern Alaska have slowly sculpted the landscape, carving valleys, raising ice walls, and burying entire mountains. Now, global warming is redefining this no-longer-so-frozen reality.
Rising temperatures have revealed lands previously hidden by ice, until they completely separated from the glacier
The mountain, the new island, emerges completely surrounded by water, by thawed ice. Images obtained by the Landsat 5 and Landsat 9 satellites reveal the gradual transformation of this region from 1984 to the present. Rising temperatures have revealed lands previously hidden by ice, until they completely separated from the glacier. The retreat of the ice has not only freed Prow Knob, but has also caused a notable expansion of nearby proglacial lakes.
The melting of glaciers in the areas surrounding the North Pole is causing unprecedented fragility on slopes and fjords
The melting of ice is a reality, and it’s so severe that Lake Alsek has gone from covering 45 square kilometers to more than 75 in just four decades. The melting of glaciers in the areas surrounding the North Pole is causing unprecedented fragility on slopes and fjords, and with it the risk of landslides and glacial tsunamis. Liquid water is conquering what were once ice fields. According to a study by the University of Hamburg and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. No jokes.
It is the most recent and most striking example: In the latest images, the same mountain is seen completely surrounded by water
This accelerated melting not only reshapes the landscape but also weakens the glacier itself, making it more vulnerable to calving and collapse. The images are striking, showing how in 1984 the mountain could be clearly seen completely surrounded by an impressive glacier. In the latest images, the same mountain is seen completely surrounded by water. This is not the only example of global warming; it is the most recent and most striking example, but Lake Harlequin and Lake Grand Plateau, also fed by retreating glaciers, have doubled in size since 1984.
It’s nature’s way of, once again, crying out for help
We can say that Prow Knob is nature’s way of, once again, crying out for help. Global warming is leaving historic images of the consequences of human behavior. The excessive exploitation of natural resources is making us see the consequences, and, albeit slowly and slowly, changes are being implemented. The goal is to slow the incessant rise in planet Earth’s temperature as much as possible. Resources, animals, vegetation… depend on human decisions. On its own, the Earth can only respond to how it has been treated. Its way of responding is with rain, intense summers, freezing winters, tsunamis… So putting the brakes on is no longer a suggestion; it’s a common need.
