“Snæfellsjökull, in particular, is in danger. The glacier’s steep slopes mean snow doesn’t hold well,” said Oddur Sigurðsson, geologist and specialist in glaciological research at the Icelandic Met Office, about Iceland’s rapidly retreating glaciers. Oddur fears Snæfellsjökull will have disappeared completely by the end of the century.
In 2014, Okjökull glacier in West Iceland became the first Icelandic glacier to loose its title as a glacier. Glaciers need to be thick enough to sink and move under their own weight in order to be categorised as such. Due to its deminishing size, Ok no longer fit the critera, and the former glacier is now simply known as “Ok”. According to Morgunblaðið newspaper, glaciologists fear more glaciers will disappear within the next decades.
Read more: See how the ice cap of Mýrdalsjökull glacier has changed in 28 years
Roughly 11 percent of Iceland’s landmass is covered by glaciers. The largest ice caps are located in the south and the central highlands, the largest being Vatnajökull.
All of the country’s outlet glaciers have been losing around 20 to 30 square kilometres (7.7 to 11.5 sq miles) of ice annually since 1985. Some fear the glaciers will have melted away within 500 years if the present trend continues.
“Snæfellsjökull, in particular, is in danger. The glacier’s steep slopes mean snow doesn’t hold well,” said Oddur Sigurðsson, geologist and specialist in glaciological research at the Icelandic Met Office, about Iceland’s rapidly retreating glaciers. Oddur fears Snæfellsjökull will have disappeared completely by the end of the century.
In 2014, Okjökull glacier in West Iceland became the first Icelandic glacier to loose its title as a glacier. Glaciers need to be thick enough to sink and move under their own weight in order to be categorised as such. Due to its deminishing size, Ok no longer fit the critera, and the former glacier is now simply known as “Ok”. According to Morgunblaðið newspaper, glaciologists fear more glaciers will disappear within the next decades.
Read more: See how the ice cap of Mýrdalsjökull glacier has changed in 28 years
Roughly 11 percent of Iceland’s landmass is covered by glaciers. The largest ice caps are located in the south and the central highlands, the largest being Vatnajökull.
All of the country’s outlet glaciers have been losing around 20 to 30 square kilometres (7.7 to 11.5 sq miles) of ice annually since 1985. Some fear the glaciers will have melted away within 500 years if the present trend continues.
