AFRICA: Fabled equatorial ice-caps in east Africa will disappear within two decades because of global warming, a study led by University College London (UCL) has found.
Reporting online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the first survey in a decade of glaciers in the Rwenzori mountains concluded that warmer temperatures over the last four decades have contributed to a substantial reduction in ice cover.
The Rwenzori mountains - also known as the "Mountains of the Moon" - straddle the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. They contain one of the few remaining tropical ice fields outside the Andes and are renowned for their spectacular and rare flora and fauna.
The mountains' legendary status was established during the 2nd century when the Greek geographer Ptolemy made the seemingly preposterous but ultimately accurate proclamation that the River Nile was supplied by snow-capped mountains at the equator.
A century ago, glacial cover over the entire range was estimated to be 6.5 square kilometres. However, recent field surveys and satellite mapping show that some glaciers are receding by tens of metres each year and that the area they cover halved between 1987 and 2003.
With less than one square kilometre of ice remaining, glaciers are expected to disappear within 20 years if present trends continue. This was an "unambiguous message of a changing climate in this region of the tropics", said Dr Richard Taylor, of UCL's department of geography.
However, he acknowledged that there was considerable scientific debate as to whether changes in temperature or rainfall in the area are responsible for the shrinking of glaciers in the East African Highlands that also include Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. "Considering the continent's negligible contribution to global greenhouse-gas emissions, it is a terrible irony that Africa, according to current predictions, will be most affected by climate change," Dr Taylor said, adding that this could also include the spread of malaria.