Researchers are bringing attention to the very real possibility that Iceland could lose nearly all of its ice in the next 100 years.
Iceland's third-largest glacier and the largest glacier mass in Europe is now dissolving at rates never before seen in human history.
That's because of human-caused climate change.
Ice all over the planet is rapidly melting. Scientists say all that water rushing into the world's oceans is not only making sea levels rise but could also be changing the ocean's circulation and fueling more extreme weather events like hurricanes and heatwaves.
Glaciologist Dr. M Jackson and her fellow researchers are bringing attention to the very real possibility that Iceland could lose nearly all of its ice in the next 100 years.
They produced a short film called "After Ice" using historical pictures and new drone footage to show how quickly the landscape has changed.
Back in 2019, Iceland held a glacier funeral after a 700-year-old sheet of ice shrunk so much that scientists declared it dead.
Iceland has now lost so much ice that with less weight from the glaciers, the land is rising. That's making some harbors shallower, making it harder for boats to navigate.
Scientists are also worried about more volcanic eruptions as the ground there becomes increasingly unstable without glaciers holding it in place.
Jackson calls this place a glacial graveyard, but she has not lost hope. She said we can still keep the planet from overheating and give the glaciers a chance to grow.
"We're losing ice, and we're gonna lose a lot more ice," she said. "But that does not mean that ice is gone forever on the planet. Ice can grow back. But that means you and I have to act now. I want people to think about the future with ice. And that's what I fight for."
