Now Iceland's few forests are those planted during this century. Alaskans should think about this when we clear the land and harvest our fish and lumber. We may have more land and water, but already we have twice the population. Like Alaska, Iceland can be a violent place, but unlike Alaska, crime is very rare, murders almost unheard of. The difference is that, in Iceland, this activity is concentrated in an area roughly 10 percent the size of Alaska.
Volcanoes erupt under glaciers, causing apocalyptic floods as the ice melts instantaneously.
Poisons from massive ash falls have decimated livestock over the entire island. Houses that sprout along the sheer slopes of canyons and fjords can be wiped out by landslides and avalanches. The weather, too, can be thrilling, with alternating rain and sun, storm and calm, much like the southern coast of Alaska. The grassy lowlands might be compared to the Aleutian Islands, and the barren highlands are like alpine or Arctic Alaska with their dwarfed willow, muskeg, lichen, and abundant tiny flowers. How strange to hike a wilderness with no ground squirrel dens, no porcupine sign, no beaver cuttings.