Jökull - 01.12.1969, Page 161

The Icelanders as a whole have therefore
suffered from the damage caused by sea ice,
and it is difficult to estimate statistically the
loss of life and property involved. However,
a few figures from more recent years will be
mentioned in order to provide examples of
mild ice years.
Jn the ice year 1965, when the people of the
eastern part of Iceland were the worst affect-
ed, the cost of purchasing and transporting
hay to that area amounted to 14,2 million Ice-
landic krónur.
During the comparatively mild ice year 1967,
government compensation loans and hay trans-
port subsidies totalled 18 million krónur. For
the year 1968, which was a severer ice year,
15.1 million krónur were paid in compensa-
tion loans and 4.7 million krónur in hay trans-
port subsidies, amounting in all to about 20
million krónur.
Taking the picture as a whole, the direct
clamage for which compensation has been paid
does not appear to be excessive. What is more
serious is that during the 1967 ice year 870 kg
less yield of hay were obtained per hectare than
the average annual crop for the last 25 years.
For 100,000 hectares this means a decrease of
87 million kg, the resulting loss amounting to
260 million krónur; a loss that reduced the
basic product of Icelandic agriculture by one
fifth compared with before. This figure does
not include the loss of crop in grazing lands,
or the ensuing shortage of raw material for
other agricultural production, which was valu-
ed that year at 2,300 million krónur.
More frequent arrival of sea ice associated
with a drop in mean temperature thus has
similar effects on grass growth today as it did
in the 18th century. The Icelanders are, how-
ever, in a much better position as regards
transport than they were, so that there is little
question of famine. On the other hand, it is
obvious that farming profits decline in pro-
portion to rising operational costs, and con-
stant drawing of fodder supplies from else-
where may in some cases completely eliminate
farming in some districts.
REFERENCES
Bergthórsson, P. 1966: Hitafar og búsælcl á fs-
landi. Veðrið 11 (1), 15-20.
Chritchfield, W. B. ir Little, E. L. 1966: Geo-
graphic Distribution of the Pines of the
World. U.S.D.A. Miscell. Publ. 991, Wash-
ington, DC 97.
Grímsstaðaannáll, 1933: Annálar 1400—1800 III,
Hið íslenzka bókmenntafélag, Revkjavík,
435-657.
Koch, L. 1945: The East Greenland Ice. Med-
delelser om Grönland, 130 (3): 373.
Löve, A. ir Löve, D. 1956: Cytotaxonomical
Conspectus of the Icelandic Flora. Acta
Horti. Gotoburgensis 20 (4): 65—290.
Slefánsson, U. 1966: Plafið. Almenna bókafé-
lagið, Reykjavík, 293.
Sæmundsson, B. 1932: Spendýrin. Bókaverzlun
Sigf. Eymundssonar, Reykjavík, 437.
Thorarinsson, S. 1956: The Thousand Years
Struggle against Ice and Fire. Mus. Nat.
Hist. Iceland. Miscellaneous Papers, 11:
52.
Thoroddsen, Þ. 1931: Lýsing íslands. ísafoldar-
prentsmiðja, Reykjavík, I: 365; 1933: II:
683.
— 1916: Árferði á íslandi í þúsund ár. Hið
íslenzka fræðafélag, Kaupmannahöfn, 432.
Veðráttan, 1951—68. Veðurstofa íslands, Rvík.
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