Uganda: Scientists watch helplessly as the snowmelt in the Rwenzori Mountains [4/7]
Audio 02:10
View of the Alexandra and Marguerite peaks from the Ugandan slope (illustrative image).
© Creative commons - CC BY-SA 3.0
By: Lucie Mouillaud Follow
2 min
"
All the glaciers of Africa will have disappeared by 2040
", it is the sad observation of a report of the World Meteorological Organization published last October.
The disappearance of the continent's three glaciers, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Kenya, and the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda, "
signals the threat of imminent and irreversible change in the earth system,
" the report said.
Advertising
The rangers of the UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) are responsible for observing the melting ice of Rwenzori.
In his office at the foot of the massif, Nelson Enyagu, director of research in the national park, keeps preciously the reports of all the expeditions to the top of the glaciers of the mountain.
The most recent was last August, Stanley tells us: “
We visited two permanent markers, on Mount Stanley and on its Margherita summit.
There was a reduction in glaciers of 0.26 acres (1052m2 equivalent), and a snow depth of 11cm3.
"
Each quarter, a team of three rangers goes on a ten-day expedition to observe the evolution of the last glaciers.
Glaciers that have disappeared by 82% since the first searches in 1906.
Alfred Masereka has worked in the park for 14 years.
“
Fifteen years ago, we saw glaciers on almost all the summits of Rwenzori.
Now, even at the highest peak, Mount Margherita at 5,109 meters above sea level, the glaciers have greatly reduced, and have been replaced by vegetation,
”he explains.
The disappearance of glaciers is only a matter of time
All these developments are recorded by the research team.
On the ground, the rangers clean their equipment for their next mission.
Harnesses, ropes, crampon shoes, but also drills to measure the depth of glaciers.
“
You use a long drill to create a hole in the rock, to measure the depth of the ice.
We also mark out the entire area covered by snow, in order to be able, on our return, three months later, to record the evolution.
"
In front of his computer, research director Nelson Enyagu observes the reductions in glaciers recorded by these teams.
Their disappearance is only a matter of time, according to him: “
It is estimated that in 2025, there will be no more glaciers.
And our observations confirm it.
There are also many avalanches at the moment, and these avalanches accelerate the disappearance of the ice.
"
Glaciers now cover only 1.2 km2 of the Rwenzori mountains.
Since the 1960s, the region of western Uganda has experienced a temperature increase of 0.5 degrees every 20 years.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Uganda
Climate change