Is it a remote paradise, a major industrial complex, or somehow both?
Published Dec 28, 2013
A pair of modest oyster flats turned into two of most important islands in the United States.
Published Mar 20, 2016
The most interesting geology lies just offshore and below the water line of this Northwest Australian island.
Published Aug 3, 2015
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
An unnamed isle in Canada’s Nunavut Territory is the leading contender for this island superlative.
Published Feb 22, 2015
More than a year after emerging from the Pacific Ocean, a new Japanese island continues to grow.
Published Dec 2, 2014
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
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
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
Once named San Salvador, the island may be where Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the Americas.
Published Mar 21, 2011
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
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
The island once looked very different from how it does today.
Published Apr 16, 2017
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
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