The disappearing Rwenzori glaciers
Richard Taylor on the results of recent expedition
Dr Richard Taylor
The 6th June edition of The Observer quotes Dr Richard Taylor on the results of a recent expedition to the summit glacier of Mount Rwenzori in Uganda. The expedition was part of Project Pressure, a collaboration of photographers, scientists and web developers working to document fast shrinking glaciers across the globe, with priority given to those in terminal decline.
Richard co- lead the UCL Geography Centenary Expedition to the Rwenzori ice fields in 2003, with colleagues and students from UCL and Uganda’s Makerere University, making several further visits in subsequent years as part of the Climate Change and the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Rwenzori Mountains project.
In the newspaper report, he comments “This is the last chance to see [the Rwenzori ice fields]. In years to come, the ice up there will be a fairy tale for the people who live near Rwenzori.” In an area of high rainfall, he attributes most of the glacier melt to increased air temperature rather than changing patterns of precipitation, which are widely thought to be responsible for the shrinkage of glaciers on Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/03/melting-glaciers-rwenzori-uganda-congo
The Climate Change and the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Rwenzori Mountains project:
http://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/about-the-department/people/academics/richard-taylor/research/rwenzori
Project Pressure:
