November 07, 2024

Vanished Land


Vanished Land
Franz Josef Land, Russia. Franz Josef Land, Russia. Wikimedia Commons.

On November 1, the Russian Geographical Society announced Russia had lost land, but not due to the war in Ukraine. An island of the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, part of Arkhangelsk Oblast, has sunk due to climate change. 

The disappearance of Mesyatsev Island was detected through satellite imagery. Students and researchers from RISKAT, an interregional project to find changes in the Earth from space under the direction of Moscow Aviation Institute associate professor Alexey Kucheiko, discovered the phenomenon.

Said Kucheiko, "In the zone of the Eva-Liv island of the archipelago of the Franz Josef Land in the Arctic, an ice formation called the Mesyatsev Island has disappeared. We have followed this [phenomenon] from 2020 to 2022. Now, the island has completely melted, which will require a correction in navigation maps."

The Mesyatsev island was formed in a peninsula of the same name as a result of a glacier melting in the Eva-Liv island before 1995. The creation of the island was detected through satellite images.

In August 2015, Mesyatsev Island had a surface area of 53 hectares (about 150 acres). By August 2024, the island had shrunk to only three hectares (about eight acres). A month later, it had completely disappeared from satellite images.

The Russian Geographical Society published on its website, " The [research] group put forward the following hypothesis: in the Arctic regions climate change leads to the melting of glaciers and rising sea levels. This causes an erosion of the coastline and, as a result, the disappearance of some landforms." The report also notes that additional research is needed to confirm the disappearance of Mesyatsev island and identify possible changes in the seabed.

According to Carbon Brief, Russia is the fourth-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. Its oil and gas industry fuels the country's carbon emissions. Despite promises from President Vladimir Putin that the country would move towards carbon neutrality, Russia's emissions have risen in recent years

As its land melts, Russia has cracked down on climate justice activists, designating 38 organizations as "foreign agents" and banning Greenpeace.

You Might Also Like

Greenpeace Declared
  • May 21, 2023

Greenpeace Declared "Undesirable"

The Russian General Procurator announced Greenpeace has been declared an "undesirable organization," banning it in Russia.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955