Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is an inactive stratovolcano in north-eastern Tanzania rising 4,600 m (15,092 ft) from its base (and approximately 5,100 m/16,732 ft from the plains near Moshi), and is additionally the highest peak in Africa at 5,892 metres (19,331 ft), providing a dramatic view of the surrounding plains.
While the volcano appears to be dormant on the inside, events on top of the mountain draw...
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Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is an inactive stratovolcano in north-eastern Tanzania rising 4,600 m (15,092 ft) from its base (and approximately 5,100 m/16,732 ft from the plains near Moshi), and is additionally the highest peak in Africa at 5,892 metres (19,331 ft), providing a dramatic view of the surrounding plains.
While the volcano appears to be dormant on the inside, events on top of the mountain draw global attention. The top of the mountain has seen a retreat of the most recent covering of glaciers, with the most recent ice cap volume dropping by more than 80%.
Sources disagree when the glaciers will be gone due to melting. In 2002, a study led by Ohio State University ice core paleoclimatologist Lonnie Thompson predicted that ice on top of Africa's tallest peak would be gone between 2015 and 2020. In 2007, a team of Austrian scientists from University of Innsbruck predicted that the plateau ice cap will be gone by 2040, but some ice on...
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