The island of Mesiatsev, which was part of the Russian archipelago of the Franz Josef Islands in the Arctic Ocean, has disappeared, the Russian Geographical Society announced on Thursday, pointing in particular to global warming.
“An ice formation, previously called Mesiatsev Island, has disappeared in the area of Yeva-Liv Island in the Franz Josef Archipelago in the Arctic. We observed it in 2020-2022. Now the island has completely melted, which requires correction of navigation maps,” the company said on its official website, citing Alexei Kucheiko, associate professor at the Moscow Aviation Institute who made the discovery using satellite images.
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In 2015, the island was visible on maps, but by August 2024, its area had shrunk from 53 hectares to 3 hectares, and a month later it had disappeared entirely.
According to experts from the Russian Geographical Society, the island disappeared due to global warming and coastal erosion due to rising sea levels. In the future, it will be necessary to conduct additional research to definitively confirm the disappearance of the island and identify possible changes to the seabed, the Russian Geographical Society suggested.
With MAP
