A dupe of climate change is to be given a memorial to commemorate its departure in Iceland . RIP former glacier Okjökull in Borgarfjörður ( -2014 ) , which scientists say is the country ’s first confirmed glacier to disappear thanks to the mood crisis .
Okjökull , or Ok , as it was known , is the first glacier in Iceland to lose its deed because of world-wide thaw , back in 2014 . The site of the former glacier will be remembered with aplaqueto be put in next month by scientists from Rice University .
“ This will be the first monument to a glacier lost to clime change anywhere in the world , ” Cymene Howe , manufacturer of the 2018 filmNot Okdocumenting the glacier ’s demise , said . “ By mark Ok ’s passing , we hope to draw attention to what is being mislay as Earth ’s glacier expire . ”
The plaque reads :
" Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier .
In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to espouse the same itinerary .
This monument is to recognize that we know what is happening and what needs to be done
Only you know if we did it . ”
The memorial tablet also immortalize 2019 as the twelvemonth the worldfirst hit 415ppm CO2levels , which it did back in May .
" [ W]e wanted to create a lasting memorial to Ok , a small glacier that has a big story to tell , ” Dominic Boyer , the film ’s carbon monoxide - manufacturer , said . “ Ok was the first named Icelandic glacier to melt because of how humans have transform the satellite ’s atmosphere . Its fate will be shared by all of Iceland ’s glaciers unless we dissemble now to radically curtail glasshouse gas emissions . ”
According to Boyer and Howe , scientist dread Iceland ’s 400 - odd glacier could be gone by 2200 . Not only are glacier the largest freshwater reserves on Earth , but they are invaluable for providing insights into Earth ’s atmosphere , past and present .
The Northern Hemisphere is presently carry the brunt of the global clime crisis , with the Arcticwarming double as fastas other parts of the world . This summer , temperatures have divulge records around the orb , while NOAA has reportedrecord - breakage decreasesof Arctic ocean crank coverage . Many function of the Arctic , from Siberia to Greenland , are currently experiencingunprecedented wildfires . The northernmost lasting human settlement on Earth , the town of Alert in Canada , just recorded itshottest temperature ever , a full 15 ° snow higher than the average mellow temperature for this time of year , while Anchorage in Alaska also better its record , experiencing 32 ° C ( 90 ° F)on July 4 , pulsate its premature record of 29 ° C ( 85 ° F ) back in 1969 .
All this has climax in June being spot officially as thehottest month ever recordedandJuly is on course to beat it .
“ One of our Icelandic colleagues put it very sagely when he tell , ‘ Memorials are not for the dead ; they are for the living , ' ” Howe pronounce . “ With this commemoration , we desire to underscore that it is up to us , the sustenance , to jointly reply to the rapid going of glaciers and the ongoing impacts of climate change . For Ok glacier it is already too late ; it is now what scientist call ‘ dead ice . ' ”
This may be the first memorial to a baffled glacier , but it is unconvincing it will be the last .
[ H / T : Earther ]
