Main image via Houston Public Media + The Guardian
If you’re one of those people who still believe that climate change is not affecting us and everyone’s simply making “a big deal” out of it, Iceland is here to prove you wrong.
The country has held its first ever funeral for the loss of a glacier.
via GIPHY
For those of you who are unfamiliar with what exactly a glacier is, the National Snow and Ice Data Center notes that:
“Glaciers are made up of fallen snow that, over many years, compresses into large, thickened ice masses. Glaciers form when snow remains in one location long enough to transform into ice. What makes glaciers unique is their ability to move. Some glaciers are as small as football fields, while others grow to be dozens or even hundreds of kilometers long.”
Image via smrtenglish.com
On Sunday, Iceland honoured and mourned the passing of Okjokull, the first ever glacier to lose its status due to climate change. According to scientists, some 400 other glaciers are also in risk of the same fate.
The past July marked the warmest ever month the world has ever faced on record.
Image via The Guardian
Icelandic geologist, Oddur Sigurðsson first pronounced the Okjokull glacier extinct in 2014 but to commemorate the passing, Oddur brought a death certificate to the made-for-media memorial.
To mark this unimaginable event, a memorial ceremony was held where a bronze plaque was mounted on a bare rock on the former glacier in western Iceland. The plaque reads:
“A letter to the future.
Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it.”
The plaque is also labeled with “415 ppm CO2” that refers to the record level of carbon dioxide measured in the atmosphere in May.
Image via The Guardian
Iceland’s Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir; and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson; were amongst the hundreds of scientists, journalists and members of the public who made two-hour hike up the volcano to place the monumental plaque.
According to Oddur, the glacier used to stretch over six square miles and local residents reminisced about drinking pure water that was thousands of years old from Ok.
The image below shows the shrinking of Ok by NASA from 7th September 1986 (left) and 1st August 2019 (right).
Image via Gulf News
“I hope this ceremony will be an inspiration not only to us here in Iceland but also for the rest of the world, because what we are seeing here is just one face of the climate crisis,” Iceland’s Prime Minister told AFP. “We see the consequences of the climate crisis. We have no time to lose.”
“The symbolic death of a glacier is a warning to us, and we need action,” Mary Robinson added.
Image via The Guardian
We definitely need action before things get much much worse. Let’s hope that this glacier’s funeral helps to make the impact that’s needed to bring about a change in all our lives to save the earth and everything that makes it beautiful.
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Info via NBC News + The Guardian