Uunartoq Qeqertaq, Greenlandic for "The Warming Island", is an island, that was only acknowledged as such in September 2005, by an American explorer Dennis Schmitt, off the east central coast of Greenland, 550 km (340 mi) north of the Arctic Circle. It was attached to the mainland of Liverpool Land by glacial ice even in 2002, when the ice shelves began retreating rapidly in this area, so that by 2005 it was no longer attached to the mainland. Members of the scientific community believe this newly discovered island is a direct result of global warming.