Russia discover five NEW islands we never knew existed – and they even have animals
FIVE new islands have been discovered in a remote region of the Arctic, according to the Russian Navy.
The sailors reported spotting the new land near the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, a cluster of islands in the Arctic Ocean.
It is thought that the new islands have been revealed due to melting glaciers in the region.
Vice Admiral Alexander Moiseyev of Russia's Northern Fleet told media in Moscow: "Mainly this is of course caused by changes to the ice situation.
"We thought they were (part of) the main glacier [called Vylki, aka Nansen].
"Melting, collapse, and temperature changes led to these islands being uncovered."
A student engineer called Marina Migunova actually observed unknown land masses on satellite imagery from the area that turned out to be the islands back in 2016.
However, the islands were not officially confirmed until this year.
All five islands have now been physically surveyed.
They are thought to have emerged from icy coverings around 2014 and are located in Vize Bay at Novaya Zemlya's Severny Island.
Two of the islands are very small and one is just 30 metres wide.
The largest is a vast 54,500 square metres.
Experts are yet to determine how long the life span of the islands will be and whether they'll be swallowed by the sea.
Hopefully they'll be here to stay for the variety of creatures that have already colonised them including birds and plants.
Captain First Class Alexei Kornis, the head of the Northern Fleet Hydrographic Service, told the Russian site Arctic: "We've found the remains of a seal torn up by a bear.
"So, if all of this manages to take root, the islands will survive."
As the climate warms more landmasses are expected to appear as glaciers melt and expose them.
When glaciers drink they expose the land below and can reveal breaks in that that was previously thought to be connected.
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Here are the basic facts...
- Scientists have lots of evidence to show that the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing due to human activity
- Climate change will result in problems like global warming, greater risk of flooding, droughts and regular heatwaves
- Each of the last three decades have been hotter than the previous one and 17 of the 18 warmest years on record have happened during the 21st century
- The Earth only needs to increase by a few degrees for it to spell disaster
- The oceans are already warming, polar ice and glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising and we’re seeing more extreme weather events
- In 2015, almost all of the world's nations signed a deal called the Paris Agreement which set out ways in which they could tackle climate change and try to keep temperatures below 2C
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In other news, Antarctica is being melted from below by warm underground rivers, according to worried scientists.
The Mont Blanc glacier weighing 245million kilos ‘could collapse’ sparking evacuation – and climate change is being blamed.
And, experts think climate change could cause areas of the ocean to turn a "deep green" colour by 2100.
What do you make of the new islands discovery? Let us know in the comments...
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