Last fall, Iceland established a committee on climate change to guide the government’s policy on environmental issues. This summer the first report was delivered—with predictions of significant changes. For example,

 Farmers will be able to grow wheat and pumpkins by the middle of the century.

 Fish species, such as cod, haddock flounder, halibut, and sole, that have a high commercial value are moving into Icelandic waters.

 By the end of the century, about 80 species of birds will have migrated to Iceland.

 More energy can be produced from waterfalls as glaciers melt rapidly this century.

 Volcanic activity in the Vatnajokull Glacier is expected to increase.

The committee chairman Halldór Björnsson, who presented the report, said, “We expect the warming to continue for the next decades and more significant changes to the environment than what we have seen before. Iceland will look very different with a changed biosphere by the mid-21st century and even more so by the end of this century.”  The committee includes meteorologists, a geologist, a marine biologist and an engineer.