Mount Kilimanjaro’s Icecap Probably Not Receding Due to Global Warming

Huh.

The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania have been diminishing for more than a century but probably not due to global warming, researchers report.

While the retreat of glaciers and mountaintop ice in the mid-latitudes—where much of the world’s human population lives—is definitely linked to global climate change, the same cannot be said of Kilimanjaro, the researchers wrote in the July-August edition of American Scientist magazine.

Kilimanjaro’s icy top, which provided the title for an iconic short story by Ernest Hemingway, has been waning for more than a century, according to Philip Mote of the University of Washington in the United States and Georg Kaser of the University of Innsbruck in Austria.

Most of the retreat occurred before 1953, nearly two decades before any conclusive evidence of atmospheric warming was available, they wrote.

“It is certainly possible that the icecap has come and gone many times over hundreds of thousands of years,” Mote, a climatologist, said in a statement.

Showing pictures of the icecap on Kilimanjaro as proof of global warming is part of the slide show that Al Gore’s disciples are showing around the country (yes, I’ve watched it on WisconinEye).  I wonder if they will remove that portion of the presentation or continue to use it. 

1. The divergent statements are startling...and really bare the political agenda behind the “science.”

   1953, nearly two decades before any conclusive evidence of atmospheric warming was available Is this another history re-write? I believe the scientific alarmists were all excited about cooling in the early 70s (a Newsweek article in 1975 said “"The evidence in support of these predictions [of global cooling] has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it."). Warming didn’t become an issue until the late 80s, after the “acid rain” scare ran out.

   It is certainly possible that the icecap has come and gone many times over hundreds of thousands of years Really? Just like the advance and retreat of glaciers here in Wisconsin?

   the disappearance of Kilimanjaro’s ice is driven by solar radiation, since the air around it is rarely above freezing So...the sun might be a factor in this case, but burning of fossil fuels are causing the warming on the rest of the planet?

   Fluctuating weather patterns related to the Indian Ocean also could affect the shifting balance between the ice’s increase Well, this fluctuation concept...interesting...might be worth further contemplation.

   Posted by on June 13, 2007 at 0031 hrs




2. Its good to see this on a CNN site, but I doubt it will get any airplay or more into the mainstream (even though Gore-bashing season seems to be open).  I bet this gets swept under the carpet.

   Posted by on June 13, 2007 at 1209 hrs




3. Oh, they won’t remove it.  Too many suckers continue to believe it thus giving Gore a reason for his existence.

   Posted by The Asian Badger on June 13, 2007 at 2225 hrs