This is a sad story about an ancient glacier that didn’t survive. The Ok glacier in Iceland has lost its glacier status. This monument commemorates the event with a message to the future.
A 2018 documentary called Not Ok details the events of the glacier’s demise, and prompted the idea for the creation of a memorial. Produced by Rice University anthropologists, and narrated by former Reykjavík mayor, Jón Gnarr, the film helps bring the effects of climate change to life in the form of a glacier-turned-narrator who talks at “mountain speed”— a slowed-down version of the former mayor’s voice.
Understanding the implications this event has on the Icelandic community, the anthropologists tasked famous Icelandic writer Andri Snaer Magnason with eulogizing this glacier and warning the future of what is to come.
The sentiment expressed in the monument’s message resonated with us, as it rhymes with the themes of our novel, Court of the Grandchildren. Set in the future, the novel explores the meaning and implications of climate change responsibility.
The TIME article from which this photo was sourced included the following video.
Photo Credit: Grétar Már Þorvaldsson / Málmsteypan Hella
