The scientists gave him the small name of the bow knob. This rock of approximately 2 kilometers long, still linked a few months ago to the Alees glacier in Alaska, has now been surrounded by water since this summer.
“This rocky area that was before the glacier, and even below, appeared first, and then with the decline of the glacier, it really became an island in the middle of the lake where it is thrown,” explains Etienne Berthier, CNRS glaciologist with BFMTV.
It is thanks to NASA’s satellite images that revealed the existence of this island. The glacier that surrounded it fell five kilometers in 40 years. According to experts, this is a direct consequence of global warming.
A role of the in danger
“The vast majority of glaciers, in all regions of the planet, retire to rates that are extremely high, so they almost contribute to the order of 1 mm per year to the elevation of the sea level,” contextualizes Gaël Durand, CNRs Research Director.
If these ice giants disappeared at the end of the century, it would also have consequences in the populations.
“The glaciers, these are real water castles that provide us with water in summer when they melt, when we need it. Then, when glaciers will no longer be there, it is this capacity of the water castle that we are going to lose,” continues Ethienne Berthier.
Therefore, this new island appears as an alert signal for the scientific community, because half of the mass of glaciers could disappear at the end of the century.
Source: BFM TV
