When you think of ice the notion of Mount Kilimanjaro
in Tanzania is not something that instantly springs to mind as having anything to do with the subject ....but you would be wrong. Mount Kilimanjaro is an icon to its people as well as one of the greatest tourist
attractions in the world and on its peak is a frozen ice cap built up over
thousands of years containing ice that could provide vital clues to the
area's climatic past.
Indeed, scientists are now beginning to fear that
the ice is melting away. Measurements taken in 2000 showed that the ice
cap covered 80% less than it did in 1912 and that by the year 2020 it
could be only only bare rock that is visible on the mountain's peak. Deforestation
is believed to be the main cause of the ice cap's demise and although
re-planting is the theoretical solution, there may not be enough time
left for such a program to take proper effect. Scientists are therefore
now working to find a way of protecting the ice peak and ideas so far
put forward include the creation of a giant tarpaulin sheet. |
