Most INTERESTING Islands On Earth!
The world’s most interesting islands! From an island full of miniature deer to a place where residents have to carry gas masks everywhere they go
11. Miyake-Jima
This island is in the Philippine Sea about one hundred ten miles southeast of Japan. Miyake-Jima is a stratovolcano, meaning it’s made of several layers of solidified lava that date all the way back to the Pleistocene, which was about fifteen thousand years ago. The entire coastline of the island is around twenty-four miles, and its average diameter is approximately five miles. In the span of five hundred years, the volcano, Mount Oyama, has erupted thirteen times. The most recent eruption was in 2000, and the islanders were forced to leave until February 2005 after emissions had stopped. However, since this explosion, a continual flow of sulfur dioxide comes out of Mount Oyama; so, the locals always have to carry gas masks. But, they only have to wear them if the toxic gas levels increase, in which case the alarms are sounded.
10. Thilafushi
Thilafushi is a man-made island in the Maldives west of Male, the capital. It started as a lagoon that was about four miles long and six hundred fifty feet wide. It became an island after people came up with a solution to the garbage disposal issues of Male city in the 1990s. In 1992, Thilafushi became an official dump and received its first load of trash, which led to its nickname, “Rubbish Island.” Four about twenty years, almost 330 tons of garbage was brought to the area every day, and its daily growth was about ten square feet. Nowadays, Thilafushi is over four and a half million square feet. In 1997, the government started leasing the land to entrepreneurs who could use it for industrial reasons, including cement packing, manufacturing boats, and bottling methane gas. But, despite its usefulness for factories, the garbage has created tremendous environmental problems. The trash contains things like lead, asbestos, and other hazardous materials that are leaking into the water. The ecological campaign of the Maldives, called Bluepeace, described Thilafushi as a “toxic bomb,” and BBC said the island was “apocalyptic” in 2012.
9. Snake Island
This fascinating place is in the Atlantic Ocean about twenty-one miles off the coast of Brazil. It is about one hundred ten acres in area. As you might have guessed by its name, this island is full of snakes, specifically the golden lancehead pit viper. These serpents got stuck on the landmass when sea levels began rising and enveloped the area that attached it to the mainland. Estimates suggest that there is about one snake to every ten square feet, and a 2015 Discovery Channel documentary said that there are between two to four thousand golden lanceheads on the island.