Climate Change in Iceland 2020
Summer Maymester, 2020
Iceland, the land of fire and ice, offers a unique glimpse at a people and landscape dealing with a changing global climate. Home to massive glaciers, active volcanoes, and a thriving tourist industry, Iceland serves as the perfect backdrop for understanding how people and animals can work with or against their natural environment for survival.
Iceland
The group will tour much of scenic Iceland including black sand beaches, majestic waterfalls, and a rift between two tectonic plates separating Europe from North America.
Students on this trip will see and learn about climate change from multiple perspectives including biology, psychology, and technology such as geothermal power plants.
They will also see rare and disappearing sites including North Atlantic puffin, humpback whales, and Europe’s fastest retreating glacier: Solheimerjokul.
By the conclusion of the trip, students will be more fully aware of how pervasive the impact of climate change can be and also possess some tools for mitigating the effects in their own community.
Travel Itinerary
Day 1: Evening departure from Philadelphia International Airport.
Day 2: Arrive in Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland. Check-in at hotel. Explore the city center, Perlan exhibition center, and Hallgrimskirkja cathedral.
Day 3: Day tour of Iceland’s Golden Circle. Visit Pingvellir National Park, Geyser geothermal area, and Gullfoss waterfall
Day 4: Day tour of the southern coast. Visit the puffin colonies along the black sand beaches of Reynisfjara and then spend an afternoon hiking Solheimajokull Glacier.
Day 5: Travel north from Reykjavik to the Akureyri. View the diverse Icelandic countryside and drive through lava fields on our way to the northern whaling villages.
Day 6: Day tour of Husavik. Learn about Iceland’s long relationship with whale hunting in the arctic circle in the Husavik whaling museum before an afternoon of whale watching.
Day 7: Day visit to Lake Myvatn region.
Lake Mývatn area
Day 7: Also visit Dimmuborgir lava fields (also known as the Black Fortress), Hverfell volcanic crater, and the Myvatn natural hotsprings.
Day 8: Travel back to Reykjavik for an evening flight to Philadelphia International Airport.