Snow-capped Kili still a stunner
2012-05-25 12:35
-
Walking in the Alps
From the Mediterranean coast near Nice to the wooded hills of Vienna, each area of the Alpine...
Now R321.00
buy now
Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro is
slowly building up its snow cover, according to a report on eturbonews.com
But is it enough to appease scientists who have been predicting the disappearance of the famous
white hat for a number of years now? According to the report, the drifts are slowly thickening on the top point of the
summit, giving new hopes to environmental watchdogs
and tourists that the peak may be recovering its beautiful snowy cap.
Pulling in over 40 000
foreigners and locals each year, Mount Kilimanjaro is certainly Tanzania's biggest tourist attraction.
Sources from Kilimanjaro environmental groups said this precipitation
could rise to cover most areas of the mountain, but the effects of
climate change and global warming could still affect the peak’s snow
layers, which have been becoming thinner and thinner. The snow, which once had disappeared on
some parts of the mountain, is said to be piling up again gradually, making a
beautiful picture out of the Kibo peak.
Environmentalists had warned that this highest peak in Africa could
lose its ice cover and glaciers between 2018 and 2020 unless global
campaigns to save the mountain’s ecology were taken and a stop put to
rampant tree-felling and unchecked agricultural activity on its slopes.
The writer of this article observed during this week’s flight closer
to the mountain, recovering snow piled up, covering the whole mountain
peak.
Kilimanjaro Area Governor Mr Leonidas Gama said environmental
degradation has to be checked by all possible means lest Kilimanjaro
residents live to regret it, adding that after inspecting the natural
plants and plantation forests on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro aboard a
hired helicopter, he found people harvesting timber, and livestock
grazing in different areas, with total impunity.
“The situation has become alarming and has to be arrested now, to
restore the former glories of the mountain...
one of the World Heritage sites and an absolute destination choice of
foreign visitors to our country,” Gama said.
As one of the chief free-standing mountains in the
world, Kilimanjaro is composed of three independent peaks or dormant volcanic cones - Kibo/uhuru, Mawenzi, and
Shira - covering a total area of 4 000 kilometers. The snow-capped Kibo, with permanent glaciers covering its entire
tip, is the highest at 5,895 meters above sea level and is said to be the most attractive
sight.
Take a look at these 'Then and Now' images and decided for yourself - and then check out images of our other must-visit recommendations on Pinterest.
Kilimanjaro snapped in January 2012. Photo: uphili , youtube
A panorama of Mount Kilimanjaro Moshi, Tanzania taken in 2009. Photo: wikimedia commons
Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania taken in 2007. Photo: NASA
Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania taken in 2000 Photo NASA
