Glacier Funeral

marvaða was honored to collaborate on the launch of the global glacier casualty list (GGCL), an innovative platform designed to visualise data on recently vanished and soon-to-disappear glaciers worldwide. this initiative is complemented by the establishment of the world’s first glacier graveyard, situated on the Seltjarnarnes peninsula near Reykjavík.

the launch day commenced with a gathering at marvaða, followed by a solemn procession to the glacier graveyard. there, 15 headstones—meticulously carved from ice by renowned icelandic sculptor Ottó Magnússon were unveiled, each bearing the name of a glacier lost to the accelerating impacts of global warming.

the GGCL project represents a significant interdisciplinary collaboration among Rice University, the University of Iceland, the Iceland Glaciological Society, the World Glacier Monitoring Service, and UNESCO, underscoring the urgent need to document and raise awareness about glacier retreat in the context of climate change.