Skeiðarárjökull glacier retreating rapidly

Striking new satellite images of Skeiðarárjökull from Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation program, show that the glacier has retreated significantly—by about half a kilometer to one kilometer along its edge—over the past eight years since earlier images were taken.

Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson, a glaciologist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, says a similar trend is evident across Iceland’s glaciers, which are collectively losing about ten billion tonnes of mass annually. He notes that Skeiðarárjökull is retreating by 50–100 meters each year—sometimes even more.

Far beyond what was previously known

According to data from the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, based on mass balance measurements across the entire ice surface of Skeiðarárjökull, the glacier has been shrinking by one to two cubic kilometers per year since 1995. The retreat of glaciers accelerated notably around the mid-1990s.

Þorsteinsson states that atmospheric warming is the main factor driving glacier retreat in Iceland.

“We’re seeing that winter snowfall remains about the same, but melting during warm summers far exceeds what we were previously familiar with.”