It appears the beginning of winter has been kind to Icelanders. Experts predicted a warm air mass would bring some mild days this week, especially in the north, but yesterday, December temperature records were broken in the south, Morgunblaðið reports. There, the temperature journeyed up to 19.7º C in Kvísker í Öræfum, located in the Skaftafell National Park area, breaking the previous record of 18.4º C, which occurred at Sauðanesvita in 2001.
Granted, milder temperatures are not unusual in the area due to the down flowing warm winds from Öræfajökull, the largest active volcano in Iceland. “There have been several times the country has hit 20º C in November, but never in December,” said meteorologist Einar Sveinbjörnsson.
That said, don’t get your Hawaiian shirts out just yet, as experts predict the second half of the week will bring lower temperatures and a rise in precipitation.
Of course, excitement is not an appropriate reaction to warmer Decembers—for obvious scientific reasons—unless you’re one of those Facebook scientists who believe the earth is pancake-shaped. As actual scientists warn that Iceland will be glacier free in 200 years, Iceland’s fast-growing temperatures, melting glaciers and rising waters are heart-clenching proof that something needs to be done fast.
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