Helga Ögmundardóttir has been feeling a bit guilty this summer. The Icelandic academic lives on the coast in Reykjavik and isn’t used to sitting on her balcony without a blanket. This year though, she’d happily spend evenings outside wearing short sleeves.
“I’m in my garden and I’m sweating because it’s 20 degrees and it’s midnight and I feel this guilty pleasure because I know it’s a bad thing, but it’s nice and I want to enjoy it,” she said.
July was the hottest month on record in the Icelandic capital, with temperatures 1.4 degrees Celsius (2.5 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average of the past decade, according to the Icelandic Met Office. April, May and June were also unusually dry and warmer than usual.
Iceland’s breathtaking landscapes of glaciers and waterfalls, and an economy that’s largely dependent on natural resources, make the country particularly vulnerable to climate change. Its impact is seen everywhere.
The summer has been so hot and dry that the water level in the famous Red Lake near Reykjavik dropped from 140 centimeters to just 70 centimeters, according to the Met Office. The lake looks more like a bog now.
Source: Icelanders can’t remember a hotter summer. It’s nice, and worrying
