2014 is off to a pretty remarkable start. As the world welcomes a new year, Japan welcomes a territorial addition that's making waves across the web … a new landmass that bears a striking resemblance to Charlie Brown's famous kennel-top-slumbering cartoon-canine, Snoopy.
As if an island exploding into existence from an undersea volcanic eruption isn't awesome enough, Japan's latest landmass also happens to look just like Charlie Shultz's famous cartoon dog. 2014 is going to have to produce some pretty incredible natural phenomena to top this.
The new island first emerged in November last year after it was pictured by the Japanese Coast Guard some 600 miles (1000km) south of Tokyo. But it was only when the new landmass, named Niijima, started to encroach on the existing island of Nishino-shima that a likeness to Charlie Brown's loveable canine companion become apparent. Aerial photographs of the new island show an uncanny resemblance to the famous Peanuts dog, complete with a strip of volcanically-discoloured water forming Snoopy's collar.
Once the web community picked up on the likeness, there was no stopping the wave of social media excitement, as the newly dubbed 'Snoopy Island' gained online notoriety faster than you can say "lolcats".
Sadly, this explosive and exciting start to the new year may be short-lived. Experts from the Japanese Meteorological Agency have warned that the gradually fusing islands that make up the new landmass remain highly volatile and it's possible that Snoopy will undergo further transformation. We're holding our breath for a 'Homer Simpson Island' ...
Here's a look at the original eruption that started it all ...
Header Image from NASA
