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(CNN) - Helga Ögmundardóttir has felt a little guilty this summer. The Icelandic academic lives on the coast of Reykjavik and is not used to sitting on her balcony without a blanket. However, this year, he has spent happy evenings outside wearing short sleeves.
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"I'm in my garden and I'm sweating because it's 20 degrees and it's midnight and I feel this guilty pleasure because I know it's a bad thing, but it's nice and I want to enjoy it," he said.
July was the hottest month recorded in the Icelandic capital, with temperatures of 1.4 degrees Celsius (-16.4 degrees Celsius) higher than the average of the last decade, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office. April, May and June were also unusually dry and warmer than usual.
Iceland's impressive landscapes of glaciers and waterfalls, and an economy that relies heavily on natural resources, make the country particularly vulnerable to climate change. Its impact is seen everywhere.
The summer has been so warm and dry that the water level in the famous Red Lake near Reykjavik dropped from 140 centimeters to only 70 centimeters, according to the Meteorological Office. The lake looks more like a swamp now.
The drought also caused fewer salmon to swim in Iceland's rivers. The National Fishing Association said that salmon fishing was halved compared to last summer.
Ögmundardóttir said the pace at which the landscape of the country has changed is worrying, even by Icelandic standards.
"Nature here is really volatile and powerful and people only have to accept it if they want to live here ... but the speed is totally new and huge," he said.
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“When you see the glaciers retreat by dozens of meters a year and you see that the vegetation changes rapidly, now we have invasive species… That is something new and it is only because of the increase in temperature. Therefore, it is tangible, it is very visible, ”he said.
The changes are quickly seen here. Skeiðará used to be one of the largest glacier rivers on the island. Then, in 2009, it disappeared almost completely. The glacier that fed it receded two kilometers (1.2 miles) in the last two decades and forced the water to escape in a different direction.
"Over a period of about 10 days or a week, the Skeiðará River essentially dried up," said Andrew Russell, a professor of physical geography at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom who specializes in glacial systems.
Glaciers are shrinking because the amount of ice that melts in warmer summers is much greater than the ice that accumulates in winters.
"You can think of that as spending money from your account," said Halldór Björnsson, the principal climate researcher at the Icelandic Meteorological Office. "If less money comes in, well, you will empty your account."
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Historical maps show that glaciers have shrunk and grown repeatedly in Iceland. Since the end of the 19th century, when the glaciation reached its most recent peak, 2,000 square kilometers were withdrawn. But 600 square kilometers disappeared since 2000.
"We have seen that these things happened before, we had episodes in which some glaciers retired, but now it is happening on a much larger scale," Björnsson said.
Bulky earth
Melting glaciers have other consequences. Heavy ice masses weigh on the ground, compressing what is below. When they melt, the land rises and the sea level drops.
The soil in central Iceland increases more than three centimeters a year, according to scientists at the University of Iceland. This could cause significant infrastructure problems, especially in ports that become less deep and, therefore, increases the difficulty of docking at them.
“When we talk about climate change, we almost always talk about rising sea levels as something negative, so I would think 'Oh, they have sea level drop, good for them'… but that's not the way it works” said Björnsson.
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"It turns out that having a drop in sea level can be as problematic as having a rise in sea level."
There is more to worry about. The earth's crust, the outermost layer of the planet, is thin in Iceland, and geologists are guessing what will happen to the volcanic activity below if it bulges more.
The Skeiðará River is not the only Icelandic natural wonder that recently disappeared due to climate change. Okjökull, a glacier in the east of the island, has melted in recent years. Now there is a plaque that commemorates its existence. More glaciers are likely to follow.
A plaque commemorates the missing Okjökull glacier.
But there are other sides of the coin. Unlike many countries struggling with the economic impact of climate change, Iceland could see some benefits, at least in the short term.
Research from the Agricultural University of Iceland has indicated that the country could grow more cereals thanks to a warmer climate. Barley production has already increased dramatically.
Iceland's fishing industry has also seen the impact. After the turn of the century, the mackerel that escapes the warming of ocean waters began to migrate en masse to the territorial waters of Iceland. It was previously a rare thing on the island, but mackerel suddenly became abundant and Icelandic fishing boats wanted to take advantage of the change.
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When Reykjavik's attempts to increase its official fishing quota faded, the country increased it unilaterally, resulting in a multinational conflict called "Mackerel Wars."
The stunning landscape of Iceland is attracting a growing number of tourists.
Iceland elected Katrín Jakobsdóttir, environmentalist and leader of the Left-Green movement, as prime minister in 2017. Under his leadership, the country adopted a plan to become a carbon neutral country before 2040.
The government has already increased carbon taxes by 50%, agreed to ban new diesel and gasoline cars from 2030 and establish incentives to electrify its transportation system.
It has also committed to plant more trees to mitigate emissions that cannot be reduced.
Tourists running
But all that effort has a major problem.
Since its economic crisis in 2008, Iceland has become an important tourist destination. The number of tourist overnight stays in Iceland increased from 2.7 million in 2008 to 8.5 million in 2018, according to the Icelandic statistical authority.
The sector contributed 8.5% to the country's GDP and employs around 30,000 people during the high summer season. With a total population of the country of just over 360,000, it is a significant sector.
Iceland's remote location means that flights and cruises are the only way to attract tourists.
People at the Okjökull glacier site after a plaque was discovered there.
"There are concerns about greenhouse gas emissions related to tourism, emissions related to flight (and) ground transportation with all rental cars ... and there is more and more concern about pollution from cruise ships," he said Lára Jóhannsdóttir, professor of environment and natural resources at the University of Iceland. "There is concern that we may have too many tourists."
Icelanders and tourists observe the changing landscape.
Global warmingIceland
