Scientists discover ‘world’s northernmost island’ off coast of Greenland

Scientists imagine they’ve found the world’s northernmost island throughout an expedition off the coast of Greenland – by mistake.

“It was not our intention to find a brand new island,” mentioned Morten Rasch, a polar explorer and head of the power. “We simply went there to gather samples.”

The scientists initially thought they’d arrived at Oodaaq, an island found by a Danish survey crew in 1978. Solely later, when checking the precise location, they realised they’d visited one other island 780 metres northwest which was revealed by shifting pack ice.

“Everyone was pleased that we discovered what we thought was Oodaaq island,” mentioned Swiss entrepreneur Christiane Leister, creator of the Leister Basis that financed the expedition.

“It is a bit like explorers up to now, who thought they’d landed in a sure place however really discovered a very completely different place.”

Whereas veteran explorer Dennis Schmitt has pushed the seek for the island, discovering one close by in 2007, the search additionally carries potential vital geopolitical implications – with a battle over management, fishing rights and delivery routes brewing between nations such because the US, Russia, China, Denmark and Norway.

The small island, measuring roughly 30 metres throughout and a peak of about three metres, consists of seabed mud, soil and rock left behind by transferring glaciers – however scientists mentioned the island’s look was not a direct consequence of world warming, which has been shrinking Greenland’s ice sheet.

Rene Forsberg, professor and head of geodynamics at Denmark’s Nationwide House Institute, mentioned the realm north of Greenland has among the thickest polar sea ice on this planet, however that it was now two to 3 metres thick, in contrast with 4 metres when he first visited as a part of the expedition that found Oodaaq in 1978.

In the meantime, specialists have recommended that such new discoveries might influence the territorial claims set to accentuate because the influence of local weather change grows.

“This little island might have a large worldwide significance,” Stefan Talmon, professor of worldwide regulation at Oxford College, informed Reuters of Mr Schmitt’s discovery in 2007. “With the ice melting, increasingly of those islands might emerge and play a task in maritime delimitations.”

However any hope of extending territorial claims within the Arctic depends upon whether or not the most recent discovery is the truth is an island or a financial institution which will disappear once more. To be thought-about an island, it should stay above sea degree at excessive tide.

“It meets the standards of an island,” Mr Forsberg mentioned. “That is presently the world’s northernmost land.”

However Mr Forsberg, an advisor to the Danish authorities, mentioned it was unlikely to vary Denmark’s territorial declare north of Greenland.

“These small islands come and go,” he mentioned.

The crew mentioned they’d suggest calling it “Qeqertaq Avannarleq”, which implies “the northernmost island” in Greenlandic.

Extra reporting by Reuters