The Arctic Sea Ice Is Getting Closer To Iceland Due To Climate Change

Unusual events have been occurring all over the world due to climate change, but the most recent in Iceland is the fast approaching sea ice arriving from Greenland.

This extension of the sea ice’s usual terrain is about to reach Iceland’s Westfjords. This information was gathered by the University of Iceland’s monitoring site on volcanoes and natural disasters in Iceland. The university claims the approaching ice is more an effect of wind than an accumulation of ice. As a result, shipping lanes in the area surrounding the Westfjords are being carefully monitored.
Sea ice is a rare sighting in the vicinity surrounding Iceland. However, its first appearance was mentioned by the settlers of Iceland who supposedly gave the country its name based on the sea ice that was surrounding the island in the 10th century. While world news is dominated more often than not by the receding ice in polar regions, it is perhaps unusual to find ice appearing in a region it is not usually found.

The approaching sea ice is another unusual occurrence in a period of unusual weather patterns. Iceland’s changing landscape due to the effects of climate change has been carefully monitored over the years by locals who have taken it into their own care to measure the receding glaciers. While most of the data contained within the World Glacier Monitoring Service database have been created via aerial photograph comparisons, this small group of volunteers – called glacier monitors – do not have to rely on government funding or satellite fuel, but the will to carry out this family practice and report first-hand accounts of climate change out into the world.