Mount Kilimanjaro Ice Cap Melting Posing Risk for Tourism

The climate change crisis has continuedly to be an issue affecting the global stage and various ecosystems. It is currently affecting Mount Kilimanjaro ice cover as it is melting quickly. Some studies have shown the glacier has shrunk by 80 percent since the early 20th century.

For locals, Mount Kilimanjaro is a symbol of fortune, bringing tens of millions of dollars to the region through 50,000 tourists who climb the mountain annually.

Earlier this year, an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report listed the melting of ice and snow on mountains like Mount Kilimanjaro as one of the 10 key threats from climate change.

U.N. experts say the ice cap on Africa’s most prominent peak, Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, is among world-famous glaciers predicted to melt by 2050 due to climate change. The United Nations says the glacier could be saved only if the world limits global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius

Julius Keyyu of the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, who has participated in various studies on Mount Kilimanjaro, said it is true, the glacier atop the mountain is shrinking.

Imani Kikoti, of Kilimanjaro National Park, said the key is to educate the public on conservation, especially in the villages surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro, and to encourage citizens to plant trees on their land to help offset climate change.

Meanwhile, Keyyu said that the glacier, while shrinking, will survive. The studies on the ice cap have been done mainly by foreigners and are lacking key experts and pieces of equipment, he said.

The people who work in Tanzania’s tourism industry hope he is correct bearing in mind the revenue and output of the Mountain to the residents around it as it brings in an ability to trade and sustain themselves from the business returns.

Citizens are hereby encouraged to take part in the re-energizing of the environment through the planting of trees to restore the ecosystems as they are the only solution to the climate crisis at hand before it gets more critical.

Leave a reply

x  Powerful Protection for WordPress, from Shield Security
This Site Is Protected By
Shield Security