New Report Shows Significant Shrinkage of Icelandic Glaciers

2026-01-27 - 10:32

Satellite and field measurements show Iceland’s glaciers experienced substantial mass loss in the glacial year running from autumn 2024 to autumn 2025. As reported by RÚV, the largest contribution to that figure came from Vatnajökull, which lost nearly 11 billion tonnes. Hofsjökull and Langjökull together accounted for almost three billion tonnes. What's the Story? 15 billion tonnes of ice loss across Icelandic glaciers in the 2024–25 glacial year Nearly 11 billion tonnes lost from Vatnajökull; almost 3 billion tonnes combined from Hofsjökull and Langjökull Findings based on field and monitoring data from participating institutions Measured Ice Loss Sólheimajökull Glacier. Photo: Irina Shtreis. The data was compiled by Landsvirkjun, the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, the Icelandic Meteorological Office and the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. Their findings indicate a total reduction of around 15 billion tonnes of ice across monitored glacier systems. Andri Gunnarsson, project manager at Landsvirkjun, described the results as among the largest mass losses seen in the past 25–30 years. “The main conclusion in itself is that there is a very large loss for this glacial year for all glaciers that are measured,” he said. Analysts attribute the decline to a late onset of sustained winter precipitation followed by a warm spring, including a notably warm May when regional temperature records were broken. Thin snow cover early in the season “takes place one of the warmest springs... and a very warm month of May,” which left ice exposed and vulnerable to melt, Gunnarsson explained. Researchers also note that the period of comparatively slower glacier mass loss seen between 2012 and 2020 has ended, with recent retreat rates resembling those observed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.