Published December 3, 2020
Indicator has reported that in the last 130 years, the Icelandic glaciers have lost an average of four billion tonnes of ice per year.
One of the biggest causes of this glacial collapse is man-made climate change. Other causes are the Gjálps eruption in October 1996, which caused Vatnajökull to lose approximately 3.7 billion tonnes of ice and ash from Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, which doubled the speed of glacial melting that summer.
Since 1890, the Icelandic glaciers have lost about 410-670 billion tons of ice. About half of this glacial melting has taken place in the last 25 years.
This rapid melting can be attributed to climate change. Apart from glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland, the average collapse of Icelandic glaciers is among the highest in the world of glaciers. The main consequence of this is the effect it could have on rising sea levels.