A new island has emerged out of the Pacific Ocean, but it may soon disappear

An image released by the NASA Earth Observatory shows the volcanic eruption on Home Reef. (Lauren Dauphin/NASA Earth Observatory)

There's a new island in the South Pacific.

Earlier this month, an underwater volcano near Tonga erupted, oozing lava and expelling steam and water above the surface. It also formed a new land mass that's quickly grown from one to more than eight acres in size.