Melting Glaciers on Mt. Kilimanjaro

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This pair of Landsat images shows the rapid loss of the fabled glaciers and snowfields crowning Mt. Kilimanjaro between 1993 and 2000. With the snow and ice nearly gone, the volcano's crater is visible on the later image. The snowfields were first measured in 1912, and by 2009, 86% of that original extent was gone. Melting has become much more rapid in the last decade. While multiple factors have been implicated, including deforestation and the resultant loss of cloud cover and reduced precipitation, the major driver in recent years has been climate change.

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Primary or BEN resource type	Digital presentation (powerpoint)
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Format	jpeg
Temporal and geographic description	These images depict Mt. Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania on the border with Kenya. They were collected by Landsat on February 17, 1993 and February 21, 2000. Each includes an area about seven miles wide.
Ecological Core Concept	Human impacts Ecosystems Human impacts -- Agriculture and resource harvesting Human impacts -- Climate change
Drought & Water-Ecosystem Services Collection	Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection	Off
Big Data Collection	Off
Editor's Choice	No
Audience	Grades 9 - 12 Undergraduate lower division 13-14 Undergraduate upper division 15-16
Pedagogical Use Description	These images could be used to illustrate the loss of glaciers and snow cover due to warming temperatures and loss of precipitation, especially in tropical regions. The visual effect of the loss of glaciers many thousands of years old is dramatic. It also becomes evident how much such a loss impacts farmers and herders in a region where the seasonal melting of ice and snow in the mountains has long been the major source of water for their herds and crops.
Keywords	glacier, ice, snow, climate change, precipitation, Tanzania, Africa, mountains
Life science discipline (subject)	Ecology
Primary Author Controlled Name	Patricia Hackbarth
Primary Author Affiliation	www.scenechanges.org
Primary Author email	pat@scenechanges.org
Submitter Name	Patricia Hackbarth
Submitter Email	pathackbarth@earthlink.net
Rights	Copyright 2010 by Patricia Hackbarth
Reviewer A	Unknown
Reviewer B	Unknown
Date Of Record Submission	2012-10-04

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