
Iceland grapples with the prospect of a future with no ice - bookofjoe
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/business/iceland-ice-melt-global-warming-climate-change.html
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cardamomo
I recently encountered the term solastalgia
([https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solastalgia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solastalgia)),
a name for the pain caused by environmental change. Global heating isn't the
only phenomenon that can lead to solastalgia, but it has already affected all
people on Earth in ways that are increasingly painful.

~~~
freehunter
Every year the entire Midwest experiences this nostalgia for long-gone weather
patterns, probably twice. Once at Halloween where you'll commonly hear people
say "when I was a kid we had to design our costumes to fit over winter coats"
and once in December where you'll hear "remember when we used to have snow on
Christmas day?"

~~~
cardamomo
Yes! I'm from Wisconsin, and I feel this so deeply. I especially miss the
crisp cold of October nights.

I remember hearing an episode of Minnesota Public Radio's Climate Cast [0], a
show/podcast about the climate crisis in MN, where a guest spoke about
cultural losses in his state. What happens when cross-country skiing is no
longer a viable sport? Elsewhere in Minnesota, academics are researching the
solastalgia of indigenous communities [1].

[0]: [https://www.mprnews.org/podcasts/climate-
cast](https://www.mprnews.org/podcasts/climate-cast)

[1]:
[http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/climate/solastalgia](http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/climate/solastalgia)

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aphextim
Maybe Iceland and Greenland can finally swap names?

I know this is off topic and doesn't add much, I guess I use humor in order to
make myself feel better about dire situations (such as climate change tipping
point).

~~~
klipt
Or rename Iceland to Niceland?

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mieseratte
They can change Ísland to simply Island.

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no_wizard
One upside (and I'm just completely ignoring the fact that this is all thanks
to spiraling climate change for a second)

This may make monetizing their _insane_ amount of geo-thermal energy easier,
perhaps?

[https://time.com/4844086/geothermal-energy-iceland-deep-
dril...](https://time.com/4844086/geothermal-energy-iceland-deep-drilling-
project/)

With the Ice melting off, it would be fair more stable to tap the country
(ironically enough) for its green energy potential. I know there's a fair
amount of energy intensive manufacturing that has been moved here for that
alone. If they were able to extend long sea cable this would make for
extremely _cheap_ server farms too.

~~~
RocketSyntax
there is a volcano under at least one of the big glaciers

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papito
If Iceland or Greenland has no ice, we will have a much bigger problem to fry,
to quote Milosh from Seinfeld.

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RocketSyntax
There are some cave tours, a nice glacial lake, a small ski mountain, and some
snowmobile tours... that's about it.

Ah, but where would the waterfalls get their water if there is no melting
glaciers?

The mountainous areas that get exposed would be extremely cool to explore.

^ been to IS 12+ times in past 2 years

~~~
49para
I'd assume fresh water would be in rather short supply ? I guess it would
depend on annual snowfall/rainfall in the time after the glaciers have moved
on.

~~~
Someone
Desalination plants should be fairly cheap in Iceland. You can distill
seawater using geothermal energy.

