18 August 2019: Iceland holds a funeral for the Okjokull glacier

CWA # 1449

This Week in History

18 August 2019: Iceland holds a funeral for the Okjokull glacier

Rianne Rajath P
23 August 2024

Photo Source: BBC

In August 2019, the famous 700-year-old Ok Glacier, formally called Okjökull, located in the northeast of Reykjavík, was publicly removed from the Glacier National Park’s official maps. It was commemorated as the first glacier to be lost due to climate change, making it lose its status as an active glacier. It was pronounced dead in 2014 by the glaciologist, Oddur Sigurðsson. This was due to the receding of the glaciers' thickness not meeting the criteria and the significant lessening in their size over the years.

About the Okjökull glacier
The Okjökull glacier reached its peak size nearing the conclusion of the 19th century, spanning an area of sixteen square kilometres. By 1978, it had diminished to merely three square kilometres. In 2014, renowned Icelandic glaciologist Oddur Sigurðsson visited the location and regrettably noted the absence of substantial ice, leading to his declaration of the glacier's demise.

In 2019, a formal ceremony was organised to commemorate the loss of the Ok glacier. As a part of this tribute, a memorial plaque was installed, alongside the poignant inscription "A letter to the future." It read:

‘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.’

Andri Snaer Magnason, in the author, in an interview with the BBC, she stated, "Climate change doesn't have a beginning or end, and I think the philosophy behind this plaque is to place this warning sign to remind ourselves that historical events are happening and we should not normalise them. We should put our feet down and say, Okay, this is gone; this is significant." Many expressed their concerns with the diminishing of the glaciers, which could lead to the global sea level rising approximately 230 feet, submerging all the present coastal cities on the earth.

This marked the fight against the depleting ozone layer and its harmful effects. Furthermore, in 2018, “Not Ok," a documentary was made to increase awareness and alertness worldwide regarding the growing climatic changes in the upcoming years. This documentary showed the impact of these changes on a wider scale.

Climate Change and the Glaciers
The unveiling ceremony of the plaque was presided over by researchers from Rice University, in conjunction with Magnason and glaciologist Oddur Sigurðsson. Many, including Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the Prime Minister of Iceland; Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, the Environment Minister; and Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, were present. Cymene Howe, of Rice University, said that “memorials are not for the dead; they are for the living. We want to underscore that it is up to us, the living, to respond to the rapid loss of glaciers and the ongoing impacts of climate change. For Ok Glacier, it is already too late.” The commemorative plaque serves as a significant emblem of the consequences of climate change, acting as a cautionary reminder of the far-reaching global effects resulting from ongoing environmental pollution.

Communities worldwide are confronting loss due to climate change, resulting in what experts now term ‘ecological grief’. Many have chosen to address this grief like coping with the loss of human life—through ceremonies. For example, over 100 individuals hiked to the glacier and held a ceremony featuring poetry readings and speeches. This meltdown of the glaciers made the UN General Assembly declare 2025 the year of glacial preservation. Iceland is one of the places with a vast majority of glaciers, it has been said that the island can be completely underwater within the next 200 years if the glaciers are diminishing at a rate of about 40 square kilometres annually.

This alarming diminishment of the Ok glacier has aghast and astounded the world and left an impact so alarming by witnessing such a sizable glacier vanish so swiftly, especially when smaller yet equally vital glaciers could also vanish rapidly, posing a significant threat to the world and its ecosystems.

About the author
Ms Rianne Rajath P is an Undergraduate Student. in Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru

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