The top of Kilimanjaro in 1998. (Photo by Gary Fallesen)

 

Most people would not recognize the photo above as the rim of Mount Kilimanjaro. Why? Because it is buried in snow.

 

The photo was taken in 1998. A study, which made international news after being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, claims that ice on top of Africa’s tallest mountain has declined 26 percent since 2000. Eighty-five percent of the ice cover that existed less than 100 years ago has disappeared.

 

Scientists in the study could not agree if melting can be blamed on man’s role in global warming.

 

 

View of Kilimanjaro in 2007. (Photo by Shawn Dowd)

 

The study showed that summit ice cover decreased about 1 percent per year from 1912 to 1953 and 2.5 percent from 1989 to 2007. “The shrinkage and ultimate disappearance of these glaciers will create tremendous ecological and social problems in the near future,” one researcher was quoted by CNN, which also cited an Overseas Development Institute’s estimate that 35,000-40,000 people visit Kilimanjaro each year, spending nearly $50 million annually.