Scientists Unveil Memorial to Iceland ’s ‘First’ Dead Glacier Lost to Climate Change

Iceland is mourning the loss of one of its famous glaciers, Okjökull Glacier, in an official memorial ceremony that will take place on August 18. Following an “Un-glacier tour” led by two Rice University anthropologists, the attendees will install a special plaque with a somber inscription, “a letter to the future,” which will commemorate the sad occasion. The formerly-massive body of ice, commonly referred to simply as “Ok glacier,” lost its glacier status in 2014 after melting down to only 0.386 square miles, or 6.6% of its original 5.8 square miles, The Guardian reported. Scientists cite global warming as the cause of this change in the glacier’s mass. The glacier is now categorized as something glaciologists call “dead ice,” which means that the glacier has stopped moving and has melted down into a different type of terrain called moraine, an accumulation of clay, silt, sand and gravel. A 2018 documentary called Not Ok details the events of the glacier’s demise, and actually prompted the idea for the creation of a memorial. Produced by Rice University anthropologists, Cymene Howe and Dominic Boyer, and narrated by former Reykjavík mayor, Jón Gnarr, the film helps bring the dire effects of climate change to life in the form of a glacier-turned-narrator who talks at what Howe calls “mountain speed”— a slowed-down version of the former mayor’s voice. Howe tells TIME that ...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized climate change Iceland onetime Source Type: news