Glacier going, going, almost gone…

The volcanic crater at the summit of Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, as it has not been seen before in 11,000 years. The snow and glaciers that have crowned it in all that time are melting and by 2020 are likely to have disappeared completely.

This image by Alex Majoli appears in a new book NORTHSOUTHEASTWESTa 360 degree view of climate change being sold for the benefit of The Climate Group, a leadership coalition of organizations committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

For a picture showing the shrinkage of the glacial coverage of the mountain over time, check out this.

I thought it might be fun to display some pictures of what those sublimating glaciers look like when you stand next to them near 19,000 feet above sea level. The glaciers lie around a huge crater plateau; the actual summit is on the edge of the rim. Below is kind of the ant's eye view, in contrast to the giant's view above.


Looking down on a scrap of glacier


Reusch Crater up close; it still smells of sulfur


One of the remaining vast glacial walls as seen from the actual summit, 600 feet above the plain where the crater lies.