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Out of Iceland’s 400 glaciers, the first one to be spoiled by climate change has been commemorated with a heartbreaking plaque.
The glacier named Okjökull, which is also known as Ok, used to cover 15 sq km of mountainside in western Iceland a century ago and measured 50 metres thick.
But now, it has shrunk to merely 1 sq km of ice less than 15 metres deep and with this, it is losing its status as a glacier.
This is one of the most poignant signs I’ve ever read in my life, to be installed at the former Okjökull glacier in Borgarfjörður, Iceland by scientists and the Icelandic Hiking Society. Our children should not forgive us if we fail. https://t.co/sc6VtGDrq3 [via @danjamstewart] pic.twitter.com/W8yDu9AuHY
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) July 23, 2019
Scientists, to mark its demise, have created a plaque. The plaque is to remember the first confirmed glacier lost to climate change in Iceland.
Have a look at what the plaque reads –
A dramatic sunset colors Iceland’s Vatna Glacier, an expansive 3,200 square-mile (8,400 square-kil… pic.twitter.com/jQi2vS0pgS
— Naufal Utomo (@NaufalU_) July 3, 2016
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.
Scientists have said that Iceland, by 2200 could lose its 400-odd glaciers due to climate change.
We should be past listening to disbelievers, let alone allowing them to govern. There are a lot of areas that need improvement in modern society, but none have the over-arching absolutism of climate change.
— Jason Fuller (@jasonmytail) July 25, 2019
FL land at the last glacial minimum. pic.twitter.com/aaxDOBYUlA
— Curtis Elmore (@counselorcurtis) July 24, 2019
These bodies of ice, on the planet, are the largest freshwater reserves and frozen within them are histories of the atmosphere. They are also often important cultural forms that are full of significance. It also marks 2019 as the year when the world hit 415ppm (parts per million) CO2 levels for the first time in human history.
In June, this year has also seen the hottest month ever recorded on Earth and July is on track to surpass that record.
Though, the effects of climate change are already here, it is not too late to prevent the worst consequences of global warming if the world takes major action to reduce CO2 emissions.
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