Overfishing, hunting and pollution are putting pressure on the birds, but climate change may prove to be the biggest challenge.

Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Arngunnur Árnadóttir clarinet, Cornelius Meister conducting

Iceland does not publicise its whale hunting industry much, and with declining public support, graphic images of what could be a Blue Whale being slaughtered is a PR nightmare for the country.

Sea Shepherd volunteers monitoring the Hvalur hf whaling station in Hvalfjordur Iceland have documented the slaughter of an endangered Blue whale on the night of July 7th, the 22nd endangered whale killed and butchered for export to Japan by Kristján Loftsson’s commercial whaling company since June 20th, 2018.

Iceland has made it illegal to pay men more than women. A new law enforcing equal pay between genders came into effect on January 1, 2018, according to Al Jazeera. Under the legislation, firms that employ more than 25 people are obliged to obtain a government certificate demonstrating pay equality, or they will face fines. The law was announced on March 8 on International Women's Day 2017 as part of a drive by the nation to eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022.

After devouring nearly as much energy as all of Iceland’s households combined, Bitcoin miners may be about to return something to the community that’s housed them.

The world’s first open-sea whale sanctuary is set to open in Iceland in March. The sanctuary, which will take the form of a 32,000 square-metre sea pen, will be home to two 12-year-old beluga whales. The whales, nicknamed “Little White” and “Little Grey,” are currently kept at Changfeng Ocean World in Shanghai, where they perform for visitors.

Israeli company Flytrex is to expand its drone delivery partnership with Icelandic retailer Aha

A crucial law on organ donations that was first introduced to Iceland’s Parliament in 2012 has finally passed. From this point forward, all Icelanders will be organ donors by default, unless they specify otherwise. This version of the law was introduced by Progressive Party MPs Silja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir and Willum Þór Þórsson, but it was actually first submitted by Siv Friðleifsdóttir, who was also an MP for the Progressives, in 2012.

Iceland is among the first supermarkets to introduce the new ‘trust mark’ that shows shoppers which food packaging has no hidden plastic in it. A new plastic-free “trust mark” is being introduced today, allowing shoppers to see at a glance whether products use plastic in their packaging. The label will be prominently displayed on food and drink products, making it easier for consumers to choose greener alternatives. UK supermarket Iceland and Dutch supermarket chain Ekoplaza - which introduced plastic-free aisles earlier this year – will start using the new labelling, alongside Teapigs teabags, but campaigners hope others will follow suit.

The long read: In a country with one of the lowest murder rates in the world, the killing of a 20-year-old woman upended the nation’s sense of itself

Iceland is the first British supermarket to pledge a crackdown on palm oil by removing the environmentally devastating food ingredient from its own-brand food.

The Greenland ice sheet is melting at its fastest rate in at least 400 years, new research suggests. And the melting is only speeding up. A study published this week in Geophysical Research Letters finds that melt rates in western Greenland have been accelerating for the last few decades. Melting is now nearly double what it was at the end of the 19th century, the research suggests. And the scientists say a significant increase in summertime temperatures—to the tune of about 1.2 degrees Celsius since the 1870s—is mainly to blame.

The 10th-century Eldgjá eruption looked a lot like the end of the world. By Sarah Laskow.

Religious leaders have reacted with outrage to a bill proposed by MPs in Iceland that would criminalise male circumcision. The bill proposes a six-year prison term for anyone found guilty of “removing sexual organs in whole or in part”. Salmann Tamimi, president of the Muslim Association of Iceland, described the proposal as an “attack on religion”.

Iceland seems to be on its way to becoming an even more secular nation, according to a new poll. Less than half of Icelanders claim they are religious and more than 40% of young Icelanders identify as atheist. Remarkably the poll failed to find young Icelanders who accept the creation story of the Bible. 93.9% of Icelanders younger than 25 believed the world was created in the big bang, 6.1% either had no opinion or thought it had come into existence through some other means and 0.0% believed it had been created by God.

Iceland’s mother tongue and cultural identity is drowning in an online ocean of English

Jewish and Muslim leaders condemn first European country to propose ban. Iceland is poised to become the first European country to outlaw male circumcision amid signs that the ritual common to both Judaism and Islam may be a new battleground over religious freedom. A bill currently before the Icelandic parliament proposes a penalty of up to six years in prison for anyone carrying out a circumcision other than for medical reasons.

MPs from five different political parties in Iceland have proposed a ban on the circumcision of boys. The bill, which has been submitted to the country’s parliament, suggests a six-year prison term for anyone found guilty of “removing sexual organs in whole or in part”. Circumcising girls has been illegal in Iceland since 2005, but there are currently no laws to regulate the practice against boys.

Iceland is expected to use more energy mining bitcoins and other virtual currencies this year than it uses to power its homes. With massive amounts of electricity needed to run the computers that create the precious bitcoins, large virtual currency mining companies have established a base in Iceland, a chilly North Atlantic island blessed with an abundance of renewable energy from geothermal and hydroelectric power plants.