Rwenzori glaciers submit notice in melting water
The Rwenzori glaciers continue to shrink, according to NASA Earth Observatory. A beautiful satellite image accompanies the report, because humanity prefers its bad news in high resolution.
The mountains straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their peaks rise above 5,000 metres. Long ago, Ptolemy called them the Mountains of the Moon. Sadly, Mountains Formerly Containing More Ice now fits better.
Researchers found that the Stanley Plateau glacier lost 29.5% of its area from 2020 to 2024. Meanwhile, Mount Speke no longer supports a glacier at all.
“We reviewed the ice’s exit interview,” said Cuthbert Drip, Director of Vanishing Assets. “Temperature came first. Management’s decades-long commitment to looking surprised came second.”
The mountains supply important water and support rare plants and animals. However, high elevation cannot protect tropical ice forever from warmer conditions.
At the Commission for Visible Consequences, officials unveiled a fresh strategy. First, observe the loss from space. Next, describe it precisely. Finally, schedule an event where somebody says time is running out.
The satellite caught a rare cloud-free view. Therefore, nothing hid the mountains or the shrinking ice. Nature supplied its own performance indicator without waiting for a dashboard.
Read the real story: NASA’s report on the shrinking Rwenzori glaciers.
