Glaciers and Icebergs

June 2022

Skaftafellsjökull

Or Skaftafell Glacier

The glacier tongue Skaftafellsjökull sits in the nature reserve in Öræfi, Vatnajökull National Park. It is one of many tongues stretching out from the largest glacier in Europe, Vatnajökull. This ice cap covers eleven percent of the surface area of Iceland.

Skaftafellsjökull is an excellent but concerning example of how climate change is steadily affecting the glaciers in Iceland.

Over the last decade, Skaftafellsjökull has been receding dramatically. Many trees have been planted in the area to help absorb carbon dioxide around the glaciers, but many scientists believe that this is too little, too late.

After many miles of driving we drove over a bridge on our way to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon.  I had been told back on Fogo Island that this is one of the more magical places one can experience.  I had no idea how absolutely true that was until I looked to the lagoon as I crossed the bridge.

This is where luminous blue icebergs drift out to sea.  They can take as much as 5 years to leave the lagoon, so in the meantime they float, melt, refreeze, topple over and sit there as you watch in pure awe and wonder.

Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures I took, because it was simply so mystical as to not know when to stop taking pictures.

*There are not many places in the world that make you stop dead in your tracks and realize what an awesome thing Mother Nature is, but this is without a doubt, one of those magical places.
***

*