English: On August 10, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of bright white ice caps and glaciers standing in sharp contrast to the summer-green vegetation of Iceland.

Iceland, true to its name, is famous for long-lasting snow and ice cover. However, thanks to a maritime climate that brings relatively cool summers and mild winters, heavy snow cover is only found in winter. Despite the country’s name, only about 10 percent of the country is covered with year-round glaciers and ice caps. The largest ice cap, Vatnajökull, is located near the southeast coast. Two smaller ice caps Langjökull and Hofsjökull are found in the central highlands, and the smallest ice cap, Mýrdalsjökull, sits near the southern coast.

The country claims about seven very large glaciers, and a study published in Frontiers of Earth Science in November 2020 counted about 250 smaller glaciers in Iceland, many of them found in the central north highlands. The study stated, “The inventory of Icelandic glaciers made around the year 2000 includes about 300 glaciers…An update of this inventory in 2017 showed that some tens of those had disappeared or were categorized as dead ice”. The study estimated the loss of about 0.4 percent of ice per year in Iceland since 2000–a loss that is speeding up in recent years due to a warming climate.

In 2014, history was made when Okjökull, fondly called Ok for short, became the first glacier to become “dead ice” and lose its status as a glacier. In 2019, a memorial was held for the glacier and a monument was placed to mark the distressing milestone. A plaque on the monument is written in both English and Icelandic. Titled “A letter to the future”, it 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 follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and know what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it.”