This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
I shot this video while on a flight back from Reykjavik, Iceland to Washington, DC on August 21, 2013. Our flight was treated to a glimpse of a portion of the ice sheet over southern Greenland and some smaller glaciers meeting the frigid North Atlantic. Watch in HD and full-screen, trust me.
Thankfully the skies were clear and sun was bright, providing us with a glimpse of a portion of the ice sheet we hear so much about - perhaps the most visible manifestation of our contribution to climate change. It's also a chance to marvel at the scale of something much larger than ourselves.
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I also snapped some photos of the pass, including my favorite shot of a glacier melting before it ends completely at the water (third one down). Even though we were 12 km in the air, the mountains and glaciers look much closer than that.
I'm basing my location guess off of FlightAware, as the in-flight map wasn't working (IcelandAir 645).