NASA issues alert as a new island emerges in Alaska

NASA satellites documented its formation over forty years

NASA has issued a serious warning regarding the dangers of climate change following the appearance of a new island.

Over a span of four decades, NASA satellites recorded a melting glacier on the southeastern Alaska coastal plain, which has resulted in an expanding lake encircling a piece of land.

As of this year, the area is officially recognized as an isolated island.

The region, spanning two square miles, includes Prow Knob, a small mountain that was once encircled by the frozen Alsek Glacier waters.

However, as the glacier thinned and melted, meltwater formed 'proglacial lakes', filling the glacier basin and gradually taking over the area.

Now, NASA reports that as of this summer, Prow Knob is officially a standalone landmass, surrounded by the expanding Alsek Lake.

The lake over the period from 1984 to 2025 (NASA)

There are concerns that this transformation is yet another indication of climate change, with increasing temperatures leading to glacier melting and altering coastlines worldwide.

The Landsat 5 satellite first captured images of Prow Knob in July 1984, showing the mountain's western edge touching the lakeshore while the rest was surrounded by the glacier's ice mass.

Over the past 40 years, the satellite has observed the ongoing retreat of the Alsek Glacier and the southern Grand Plateau Glacier as they melted away.

As this happened, the lake grew, gradually filling the space and eventually consuming the ice that once surrounded the mountain.

This summer, the last piece of ice succumbed, leaving Prow Knob as an isolated island.

NASA cautions that even more could melt now that it is even less stable (Getty Images)

NASA estimates that the separation occurred sometime between July 13 and August 6.

The space agency notes that in the early 20th century, the Alsek Glacier terminated at Gateway Knob, approximately three miles west of Prow Knob.

Although the ice began retreating eastward by the mid-century, it still surrounded Prow Knob, leading late glaciologist Austin Post to name the feature due to its resemblance to a ship's prow.

However, by 1984, its boundary had transformed into lakeshore, and by 1999 both glaciers began to recede.

Since then, Alsek Lake has nearly doubled in size, increasing from 45 square kilometers to 75 square kilometers.

NASA cautions that further melting is expected in the coming years, especially now that the ice has officially detached from the mountain.

It states that since the glacier has 'lost contact' with Prow Knob, the 'ice is less stable and more prone to calving'.