This Week in History

Photo Source: BBC
   NIAS Course on Global Politics
National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS)
Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore
For any further information or to subscribe to GP alerts send an email to subachandran@nias.res.in

CWA # 1449, 23 August 2024
This Week in History
18 August 2019: Iceland holds a funeral for the Okjokull glacier

  Rianne Rajath P

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


 

Print Bookmark

PREVIOUS COMMENTS

NIAS Global Politics Database
March 2024 | CWA # 1251

NIAS Africa Team

Africa This Week
NIAS Global Politics Database
February 2024 | CWA # 1226

NIAS Africa Team

Africa This Week
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1189

Hoimi Mukherjee | Hoimi Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science in Bankura Zilla Saradamani Mahila Mahavidyapith.

Chile in 2023: Crises of Constitutionality
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1187

Aprajita Kashyap | Aprajita Kashyap is a faculty of Latin American Studies, School of International Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi.

Haiti in 2023: The Humanitarian Crisis
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1185

Binod Khanal | Binod Khanal is a Doctoral candidate at the Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi.

The Baltic: Energy, Russia, NATO and China
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1183

Padmashree Anandhan | Padmashree Anandhan is a Research Associate at the School of Conflict and Security Studies, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangaluru.

Germany in 2023: Defence, Economy and Energy Triangle
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1178

​​​​​​​Ashok Alex Luke | Ashok Alex Luke is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at CMS College, Kottayam.

China and South Asia in 2023: Advantage Beijing?
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1177

Annem Naga Bindhu Madhuri | Annem Naga Bindhu Madhuri is a postgraduate student at the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at the University of Madras, Chennai.

China and East Asia
The War in Ukraine
October 2023 | CWA # 1091

Annem Naga Bindhu Madhuri

Issues for Europe
IPRI Quarterly Forecasts I Triggers, Trends, and Trajectories
July 2023 | CWA # 1012

Bibhu Prasad Routray

Myanmar continues to burn
2022: The World This Year
December 2022 | CWA # 879

Padmashree Anandhan

The Ukraine War
Europe: Heatwaves, Wildfires, Droughts, and Ice Melt in Alps
November 2022 | CWA # 838

Rishma Banerjee

Tracing Europe's droughts
NIAS Africa Weekly
March 2022 | CWA # 705

NIAS Africa Team

In Focus: Libya
The World This Week: 150th Issue
December 2021 | CWA # 630

GP Team

Europe in 2021
Pakistan Reader
October 2021 | CWA # 588

Abigail Miriam Fernandez

TLP is back again
NIAS Fortnightly on Science, Technology & International Relations
August 2021 | CWA # 528

STIR Team

Space Tourism
Science, Technology and International Relations
September 2019 | CWA # 162

Lakshman Chakravarthy N

5G: A Primer
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 71

Mahesh Bhatta | Centre for South Asian Studies, Kathmandu

Nepal
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 70

Nasima Khatoon | Research Associate, ISSSP, NIAS

The Maldives
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 69

Harini Madhusudan | Research Associate, ISSSP, NIAS

India
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 68

Sourina Bej | Research Associate, ISSSP, NIAS

Bangladesh
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 67

Seetha Lakshmi Dinesh Iyer | Research Associate, ISSSP, NIAS

Afghanistan