A pair of modest oyster flats turned into two of most important islands in the United States.
Published Mar 20, 2016
The ghostly white shapes northeast and immediately southwest of Wrangel Island are sea ice. Over the course of the satellite record, Arctic sea ice has advanced and retreated past Wrangel Island many times. From 1979 to 2000, the sea ice edge at the end of summer generally fell somewhere in the vicinity of Wrangel Island, but this is not the first summer when the sea ice edge has retreated well north of the island.
Published Aug 29, 2008
This natural-color image shows Henrietta Island, with a smooth, dome-capped surface and a rugged coastline, illuminated by low-angled sunlight.
Published May 3, 2009
On September 25, 2002, astronauts aboard the International Space Station viewed Easter Island, one of the most remote locations on Earth. Easter Island is more than 2000 miles from the closest populations on Tahiti and Chile—even more remote than astronauts orbiting at 210 nautical miles above the Earth. Archaeologists believe the island was discovered and colonized by Polynesians at about 400 AD. Subsequently, a unique culture developed. The human population grew to levels that could not be sustained by the island. A civil war resulted, and the island’s deforestation and ecosystem collapse was nearly complete.
Published Oct 6, 2002
The island once looked very different from how it does today.
Published Apr 16, 2017
A long history of eruptions from Taal volcano has helped shape the southern end of the Philippine island of Luzon.
Published Apr 9, 2015
The most interesting geology lies just offshore and below the water line of this Northwest Australian island.
Published Aug 3, 2015
Despite sporadic rainfall, the island is the occasional home of two of the larger bodies of water in Hawaii.
Published Apr 5, 2020
Attu Island is so far west, it’s actually in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is the westernmost of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, even farther west than the Hawaiian Islands.
Published Jul 5, 2006
In the western Pacific Ocean, a new volcanic island that formed in the shadow of Nishino-shima has merged with it. The island has doubled in size as the eruption continues.
Published Apr 4, 2014
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai is likely to persist for years, maybe decades.
Published Dec 11, 2017
Named Isla de Aves in Spanish, (meaning “Island of the Birds”) Aves Island lies west of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. It provides a nesting site to green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) and, of course, birds. Because the abundant bird droppings, known as guano, could be used in fertilizer and gunpowder, guano miners worked on the island until they depleted the supply. Since its discovery by Europeans, likely in the late 16th century, Aves Island was subsequently claimed by several European nations. The island is currently claimed by Venezuela, although disputes about ownership of the island, and the surrounding exclusive economic zone in the Caribbean, continue today.
Published Jun 19, 2006
The small Puerto Rican island is a natural reserve that has been nicknamed the “Galapagos of the Caribbean.”
Published Feb 28, 2016
Deception Island is one of the only places in the world where ships can sail directly into the center of an active volcano.
Published Jan 18, 2020
A series of storms has redistributed the sand and the so-called "Shelly Island" is no longer an island.
Published Mar 8, 2018
An undersea eruption at Lateiki Island in late October 2019 has brought new life to an older island in the Tonga chain.
Published Nov 26, 2019
More than a year after emerging from the Pacific Ocean, a new Japanese island continues to grow.
Published Dec 2, 2014
Akpatok Island lies in Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Accessible only by air, Akpatok Island rises out of the water as sheer cliffs that soar 500 to 800 feet (150 to 243 m) above the sea surface. The island is an important sanctuary for cliff-nesting seabirds.
Published Feb 25, 2002
