Africa May Lose Its Ice Field At The Middle Of The Century, Study Says

A recent study revealed that the ice on Africa's high summits is fast melting, and the continent might lose its snowy peaks by the middle of this century.

Rapidly Disappearing

(Photo : Getty Images/Roberto SCHMIDT )

In recent decades, the disappearance of Kilimanjaro's glaciers has been depicted as a symbol of climate change. The retreat of glaciers over the twentieth century is seen in all tropical glaciers in East Africa, including those on Mount Kenya and in the Rwenzori Range.

According to a study published in the journal Environmental Research, the area of the glacier on the 5,199-meter Mount Kenya was last precisely measured in 2016, comparable data on the 5,985-meter Kilimanjaro in Northern Tanzania was only available in 2011, and the area of the glacier in the 5,109-meter Ruwenzori Mountains on the Uganda-Democratic Republic of Congo border had not been measured since 2005.

These three distinct glacial zones in Africa are especially intriguing because they are located in the heart of the tropics, not far from the Equator. Ice only forms naturally since the peaks are quite high and thus in cold locations. If the ice recedes in these locations, it should not be directly proportional to rising temperatures, as is the situation in Europe's Alps.

What has changed in this region is precipitation, which was identified several years ago by researchers including Professor Dr. Thomas Mölg and his crew.

In East Africa, precipitation occurs primarily during two rainy seasons, from October or November to December and from March to May, while the rest of the year is dry. Only a small portion of the heavy precipitation throughout the rainy season reaches high levels. There, it falls as snow.

If the average temperatures at the high altitudes of Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, and the Ruwenzori Mountains remain below freezing, the snow will remain and be covered with a new white layer at the latest during the next rainy season.

Alarming Decrease

As time passes, more snow pounds down on the deeper layers, turning them into ice and forming a glacier. If precipitation declines, the ice is not replenished, and the glacier retreats. Rainy seasons have been drier since the end of the nineteenth century, and glaciers have begun to recede.

However, after analysis, the facts present a stark picture. Since the glaciers were mapped for the first time at the turn of the century between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, more than 90% of their area has disappeared.

"A decrease at this scale is alarming. The glaciers in Africa are a clear indicator of the impact of climate change," said Anne Hinzmann of institute of Geography at FAU.

Changes in precipitation in the region have a significant influence. There are not just fewer rain clouds but also more days with no clouds at all, allowing the glaciers to get more sunlight.

Even if temperatures remain below zero, the sun can directly convert the ice to water vapor and humidity, causing the glacier to erode. This does not occur uniformly. There is less sun in dips, therefore, the ice lasts longer in these protected areas.

It is analogous to glaciers on western slopes, which may receive a lot of sun in the afternoons but are more frequently shrouded by clouds than other locations.

They receive less solar radiation and attack the ice at a slower rate. Aside from such occurrences, the few ice fields in the tropics demonstrate how quickly climate change is already occurring.