The last snows of Africa (49 images)

Africa's glaciers gone by 2020

Fabled equatorial icecaps will disappear within two decades, because of global warming !
Africa is home to three large ice mountains : the two ice volcanoes of Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro, and the Rwenzori mountains chain at the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Uganda. A few thousand years ago, these glaciers stretched several hundred km2,.Now, the ice cap has been fastly melting for decades. It is estimated...
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Africa's glaciers gone by 2020

Fabled equatorial icecaps will disappear within two decades, because of global warming !
Africa is home to three large ice mountains : the two ice volcanoes of Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro, and the Rwenzori mountains chain at the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Uganda. A few thousand years ago, these glaciers stretched several hundred km2,.Now, the ice cap has been fastly melting for decades. It is estimated that they cover today barely 5 km2 of the African continent!
The fantastic ice crown described by Hans Meyer conqueror of the Kilimandjaro, "Roof of Africa" in 1889 is reduced to less than 2 km2 today. Mount Kenya reduced to less than 0.4 km2. And the glaciers of Ruwenzori represent just 1 km2 in 2005 and also could disappear by 2020.
Why does the ice melt? Not so easy to answer. Most experts blamed global warming of the planet to affect the icecaps below the Equator. Other specialists accuse the development of cultures on the mountain slopes, fires and wild cuts. Deforestation leads to a decrease in the condensation, reducing the level of cloud cover and precipitation. And at the end an increase in ultraviolets and ice evaporation
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