The Glaciers of Kilimanjaro and East Africa
The idea that glaciers exist on the equator surprised European science for centuries. Three East African mountain massifs hold ice even today — barely — and their disappearance over the past century is one of the clearest visual proofs of changing climate. None of these ice fields will likely survive the 21st century. Visiting them now is visiting a vanishing artifact.
Why ice exists on the equator
Altitude. Above about 4 500 m, even at the equator, snow accumulates on a year-round basis. The mountains rise high enough to push permanently into freezing air. Each massif is a cold island in the warm tropical sky.
Kilimanjaro
The most famous. Africa's highest peak at 5 895 m, with summit glaciers that gave the mountain its iconic snow-capped silhouette. Hemingway's "Snows of Kilimanjaro" was published in 1936 — at the time the ice covered roughly 12 km2. Today around 1 km2 remains. The Northern Icefield, Furtwangler Glacier and Eastern Icefield are the remnants.
Mount Kenya
Just south of the equator, 5 199 m. Hosted nineteen glaciers in 1900; barely two remain (Lewis and Tyndall) and both are essentially remnants. The mountain remains an extraordinary climbing destination, but with rock rather than ice as the medium.
The Rwenzori
The "Mountains of the Moon" on the Uganda-DR Congo border. More than 40 glaciers in 1906; perhaps three or four small ice patches today. Stanley massif (5 109 m), Speke and Baker were once major ice mountains. The Rwenzori climate is wet, which paradoxically accelerates ice loss.
Why they are disappearing
Less to do with rising air temperature than with reduced cloud cover and consequent increase in solar radiation hitting the ice. Tropical glaciers are unusually sensitive to short-wave radiation balance. Decreasing precipitation in some massifs compounds the effect.
Visiting Kilimanjaro
The standard trekking routes (Marangu, Machame, Lemosho, Rongai) all finish at Uhuru Peak. The Northern Icefield is visible on the descent. Glaciers up close require the Western Breach route — technical and currently closed due to rockfall.
Visiting Mount Kenya
The Sirimon-Naro Moru traverse passes both Lewis and Tyndall glaciers on the way to Point Lenana (4 985 m). The technical summit of Batian (5 199 m) is now a pure rock climb.
Visiting the Rwenzori
The Central Circuit Trail (8-9 days) reaches the Stanley massif and its remnant ice. Wet, muddy and far less crowded than Kilimanjaro. A serious commitment that is also one of Africa's great mountain journeys.
Scientific value
Tropical glacier ice cores have given some of the most important climate records of the last few millennia — the Quelccaya cap in Peru being the most famous, but the Kilimanjaro cores recovered by Thompson et al. are also crucial.
Where will you go first?
The interactive map overlays current ice extent on each of the three massifs with 1900, 1960 and 2000 historical extents — a sobering side-by-side at the world's most charismatic vanishing glaciers.