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Global Warming and Kilimanjaro
There has been a tremendous amount of interest in Kilimanjaro the last few weeks. Ever since Al Gore’ movie, An Inconvenient Truth, made the claim that Kilimanjaro’s glaciers are melting due to global warmings. Many pundits debate whether this is a result of global warming or something else, like deforestation. Needless to say, Kilimanjaro has been popular lately.
Scientists do not dispute whether the glaciers are melting or not, and many claim that it has 20 more years at the most. Critics cite that deforestation is actually the cause of the melting.
Regardless of who is right, or who is wrong, in 20+ years, we are still going to have millions and millions of people whose traditional water source has disappeared - and this is apparently happening in the rest of mountain communities too.
By Donovan | Permalink
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2 comments | June 7th, 2006 | Trackback
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Wisconsin doesn’t have anything like mountains. We did, however, have glaciers here. It is a geologic fact. Indeed, the very drumlins, kames and eskers deposited here 35 million years ago were my training ground for my own trek to the summit of Kilimanjaro in 2004.
I also watched some interesting Nova specials about Kilimanjaro as part of my preparation. One particular documentary featured a gentleman with polio who wanted to climb Kili and discover the significance and impact of the glaciers melting on the ecosystem around the mountain.
One of the conclusions of the research was that the water that melted and pooled from the glaciers was insufficant to account for the watershed and that most of the water that comes off the mountain is from springs, the trees collecting water vapor and rain.
I will not debate the fact the world polutes too much or we should take great care with our trees but I think Al Gore should watch a little more public TV.
I submit to you that the same circumstances that melted the glaciers in Wisconsin 35 million years ago could be in play now on top of Kilimanjaro and elsewhere. I additionally submit that humanity hasn’t always been a worthy steward of our planet but even our worst efforts render us mearly witnesses to the forces of nature that are beyond even Al Gore’s control.
Cheesehead, I think the biggest argument in Al Gore’s presentation is the speed of change. Sure the glaciers on Kili might have already been melting but I’m sure Wisconsin’s glaciers did not recede at the rate we’re seeing on Kili.
Wisconsin doesn’t have anything like mountains. We did, however, have glaciers here. It is a geologic fact. Indeed, the very drumlins, kames and eskers deposited here 35 million years ago were my training ground for my own trek to the summit of Kilimanjaro in 2004.
I also watched some interesting Nova specials about Kilimanjaro as part of my preparation. One particular documentary featured a gentleman with polio who wanted to climb Kili and discover the significance and impact of the glaciers melting on the ecosystem around the mountain.
One of the conclusions of the research was that the water that melted and pooled from the glaciers was insufficant to account for the watershed and that most of the water that comes off the mountain is from springs, the trees collecting water vapor and rain.
I will not debate the fact the world polutes too much or we should take great care with our trees but I think Al Gore should watch a little more public TV.
I submit to you that the same circumstances that melted the glaciers in Wisconsin 35 million years ago could be in play now on top of Kilimanjaro and elsewhere. I additionally submit that humanity hasn’t always been a worthy steward of our planet but even our worst efforts render us mearly witnesses to the forces of nature that are beyond even Al Gore’s control.