Issue No. 359 Date: September 23 - September 29, 2004
M A I N H E A D L I N E S
Kili glory fading
- Snow cap likely to melt completely
by 2020
Timothy Kitundu & Fatima Bapumia
As the depletion rate of snow atop Mount Kilimanjaro reaches alarming levels and
experts struggle to identify the exact cause of the phenomenon, there seems to
be no remedy in sight to save the majestic snow cap from disappearing.
With different schools of thought, some experts have blamed global warming as
the cause of the problem. Others blame it on the encroachment by human
activities surrounding the mountain. There is also the argument that the
depletion is caused by geothermal processes within the earth’s crust.
A recent study by Lonnie Thomson of Ohio State University indicates that the
snow on Mount Kilimanjaro has shrunk from about 12 square kilometers in 1912 to
about two square kilometers today, an 80 per cent reduction of snow.
Investigations carried out by The Express revealed that if the rate of snow
depletion persists at the same rate, all the snow atop Mount Kilimanjaro will be
gone between 2010 and 2020. Full story
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Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa is in danger of losing its snow in years to come as a result of global warming. (Photo by Javed Jafferji).
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