Iceland review - 2019, Qupperneq 9

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Iceland Review
Not OK
The former Okjökull glacier was memori-
alised with a monument recognising it as
“the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status
as a glacier.” Author Andri Snær Magnason
and geologist Oddur Sigurðsson joined
members of the Icelandic Hiking Society and
the general public to install the monument
to the former glacier in Borgarfjörður, West
Iceland on August 18, 2019.
The monument is styled as a “Letter to
the future,” and reads:
Ok is the first glacier to lose its status as a
glacier. In the next 200 years, all our glaciers
are expected to follow the same path. This
monument is to acknowledge that we know
what is happening and what needs to be
done. Only you know if we did it. August
2019, 415ppm CO2
Okjökull, or Ok glacier, was the subject
of a 2018 documentary called Not Ok, made
by Rice University anthropologists Cymene
Howe and Dominic Boyer. Scientists credit
Ok’s melting to global warming. According
to the filmmakers, scientists fear that all of
Iceland’s 400-plus glaciers will be gone by
2200.
NEWS IN BRIEF
The World Comes to Iceland
Iceland was visited by some of the world’s
most powerful political leaders in the past
few weeks, including German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and US Vice President Mike
Pence.
The Nordic Council of Ministers held
their annual summer meeting in Iceland at
the end of August, featuring a special guest,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel
and the prime ministers of all the Nordic
countries, as well as the leaders of the Faroe
Islands, Greenland and Åland Islands spent
two days in Reykjavík discussing import-
ant matters. A few weeks later, the US Vice
President Mike Pence visited and despite
spending only seven hours in the country
he managed to meet with the President of
Iceland, the Mayor of Reykjavík, the Prime
Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs
and a roundtable of US-Icelandic business
leaders.
Finally, India’s President Ram Nath
Kovind made an official visit in September.
This is his first visit to the country but India’s
former president Abdul Kalam visited in
2005. President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
went on three official visits to India during
his presidency, in 2000, 2010, and 2013.
No More Stamps
Iceland Post recently announced the
decision to stop servicing postage stamp
collectors due to heavy losses in recent
years. The service, which has mainly been
used by stamp collectors all over the world,
will stop in 2020.
Iceland Post is in the process of restruc-
turing due to heavy operating losses in
recent years. The staff members of the
Philatelic Sales department of Iceland Post
were among those who received a letter of
dismissal from the organization, as part of
company-wide layoffs.
The publication of new postage stamps
is prepared years in advance. The pub-
lication will be continued through next
year, and possibly into 2021, to finish prior
plans. According to CEO Birgir Jónsson,
the publication will cease then and Iceland
Post will rely on its sizeable postage stamp
stock. “We have a stock of stamps which will
last for many years, and maybe until the last
letter will be sent.” Birgir says that if the
stamp stock finishes before the last letters
and postcards will be sent, it is possible to
re-print stamps.
Words by
Gréta Sigríður Einarsddóttir
Photography by
Hari