Iceland’s melting glaciers are nothing to panic about

Is Iceland on the global warming front line? You’d be forgiven for thinking so. We’ve all seen the documentaries where teary-eyed reporters stand perilously close to melting glaciers. In August, a funeral was even held for the first Icelandic glacier ‘lost to climate change’. Foreign dignitaries now hardly visit my country without taking a trip to witness the ‘horror’ of what is unfolding. They return home telling stories of how they have seen for themselves the effects of climate change. But the truth is this: Iceland’s melting glaciers are nothing to panic about.

No, I’m not a climate change ‘denier’. It’s clear to me that rising carbon dioxide levels are having an effect on the planet. There was less ice cover in the Arctic last month than for any October since satellite records began 41 years ago. Our climate changes, but humans adapt. Instead of scaremongering, we should approach this situation on a scientific and rational basis.