Lunchtime meeting – Teresa Stedman. Iceland

This week’s weeks speaker was Teresa Stedman who gave us a very interesting talk about her visit to Iceland last year. Teresa and her husband went with another couple on a trip of over 2 weeks. They hired a car and drove around the island, a distance over 800 miles, staying in hotels on the way They visited many interesting sites including Reykjavik, the capital. Iceland is 190 miles from North to South and 310 miles East to West with a land area of 40,000 square miles - somewhat bigger than Ireland. It has a population of just 400,000. Iceland was first settled by Norwegians in 870. It remained independent until 1260, when it came under Norway and later under Denmark. In 1944, it broke away from Denmark, then occupied by the Nazis, becoming fully independent. Teresa showed us many interesting photos and videos including many of glaciers and waterfalls. There are 10,000 waterfalls in Iceland. There are also many glaciers, which cover about 10% of the land area. Ice breaks off the glaciers and falls into rivers to form icebergs, these then go out to sea. It is possible to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) in Iceland although it is difficult to see them with the naked eye. However if photographed they show up well in the photo. The island is volcanic and has a number of geysers and warm springs. Around 30% of its power is generated from geothermal activity and 70% from hydroelectricity, making it one of the greenest countries in the world. The only animal that is native to Iceland is the Arctic Fox. All the other animals were introduced by settlers. These include sheep, cattle, chickens, goats, reindeer and the Icelandic pony or horse. Horses and ponies can be exported from Iceland, but not allowed to be imported to prevent disease. Originally Iceland had many forests, but most of them were cleared for agriculture and sheep grazing, which led to soil erosion. Since 1990 there has been a reforestation programme and forest cover has increased sixfold, albeit from a low base. Sue thanked Teresa for her fascinating presentation. Part 2 will be on 4th August.