Published Thursday, 03 September 2009
Warming Island was first spotted by satellite off the east central coast of Greenland in 2005.
Shaped like the letter W, the island was discovered by a veteran American explorer and Greenland expert, Dennis Schmitt, who gave it its name.
Until 2005, the island was part of the mainland, and members of the scientific community believe the ice sheet that connected the mainland to this island broke up as a direct result of global warming.
Scientists believe global warming is happening faster in Greenland than anywhere on earth.
Elsewhere rising sea levels are threatening huge parts of the world.
But, in Greenland the glaciers are melting at twice the speed they did ten years ago and land is starting to emerge where it was once covered in ice.
Brian Black's challenge was to find and circumnavigate Warming Island.
To get there, the team sailed from Strangford Lough aboard Caelan, a 36' yacht, stopping at the Faroe Islands, Iceland and then at a tiny settlement in Greenland to re-fuel and provision for the journey that would take them high into the Arctic, through fog, uncharted waters and calving glaciers.
"That is global warming at its work," Brian told UTV.
"It is devastating in its truth. You have the fastest rate of climate change taking place in the High Arctic, specifically in Greenland.
"It's a warning for us," he added. "You can see the ice bridge which at one stage was about 30 metres high."
Brian and his team were the first people ever to see at first hand the newest island in the world from the deck of an Irish boat.
"This is the first time a boat as ever gone through this passage", Brian said. "Here we were doing it ourselves. Can you image the sense of excitement?"
