Glaciers Are Only Going To Be Around For A Few More Decades

Guðfinna Th. Aðalgeirsdóttir, a glaciologist, believes that if things continue as they are, Snæfellsjökull will disappear completely in the next few decades, Vísir reports. According to Guðfinna, all glaciers will disappear in the coming decades, but it is still possible to slow down the process.

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An alarming development has taken place on the country’s glaciers in recent decades, but almost three years have passed since a funeral service was held for Ok, the glacier Iceland lost due to climate change. Guðfinna did not want to predict which glacier would be next to disappear but considered it clear that it will only be a few decades before most of the main ones will seize to exist.

Glacier snow coverage is measured twice a year, in winter and in summer. Guðfinna says that since the beginning of measurements being taken in the early nineties, the performance of glaciers was positive—more snow was added to them in the winter than melted in the summer. However, the opposite has been the case since 1994 and the glaciers have been melting steadily since then.

Guðfinna mentioned an unusually cold patch in the sea southwest of Iceland, which has slowed down the melting of glaciers since 2010. She also stated that if global warming slows down, the glaciers will be quick to respond.

According to Guðfinna, it’s anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions that lead to increased global warming, and thus melting glaciers, as the earth’s temperature has already risen by more than one degree.