Tag: Iceland

A Map of Polar Bears in Iceland, Where They Don’t Belong

Published on by Jonathan Crowe
Left: a map of Iceland showing where polar bears have been reported in recorded history. Right: A bar graph showing the number of polar bears reported in Iceland, in 50-year increments.
Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands

The Icelandic Institute of Natural History has mapped every known appearance of polar bears in Iceland: “Polar bears are not native to Iceland, although they do occasionally turn up in Iceland and are thus classified as vagrants. Information exists on just over 600 polar bears recorded as having arrived in Iceland from the beginning of human settlement on the island to the present day. This is a somewhat imprecise figure, since polar bears have undoubtedly come ashore without their presence going noticed, while bear sightings and encounters were not always documented in the past. The last polar bear observation was at Höfðaströnd in Jökulfirðir in September 2024.”

Satellite Imagery of the Eruption Near Grindavík

Published on by Jonathan Crowe

Satellite image of the smoke plume and lava flow from the eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano near Grindavík, Iceland, taken on 8 Feb 2024 and processed by Marco Langbroek.

The Copernicus-2A satellite imaged the smoke plume and lava flow from the eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano near Grindavík, Iceland yesterday; Marco Langbroek processed natural-colour and short-wave infrared imagery to achieve the above image, which he posted to Bluesky. [Kottke]

Previously: Earthquake Swarms and an Imminent Eruption in Iceland.

Earthquake Swarms and an Imminent Eruption in Iceland

Published on by Jonathan Crowe

Two maps showing geological deformation in Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, from the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
Icelandic Meteorological Office

A swarm of thousands of earthquakes have been recorded on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula over the past three weeks. It’s a strong indication that a volcanic eruption is imminent. The town of Grindavík has been evacuated as a result. The Icelandic Meteorological Office has a page with updates and maps of earthquakes and ground deformation from the magmatic intrusion (examples above). A post on Earthquake Insights has more maps, plus geological and historical context.