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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Lonnie Thompson
Aired December 21, 2002 - 17:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Some stunning news from researchers who study one of the world's natural treasures. The glaciers atop Mount Kilimanjaro are melting fast due to global warming, say scientists. They could disappear in less than 20 years. One of the scientists who studies the glaciers of Kilimanjaro is Lonnie Thompson. He is a glaciologist with Ohio State University. He joins us by telephone now from Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Thompson, thank you for your time tonight.
LONNIE THOMPSON, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: Thank you, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: Were you surprised? We've heard about global warming, we've heard about the ozone layer, we've heard about the hole in the ozone layer and the polar caps supposedly mounting. Mount Kilimanjaro, 19,335 feet, and it's happening here. This surprises you?
THOMPSON: It surprises me the rate at which the ice is being lost. We have lost about 80 percent of the ice since the first map was made there in 1912. So it's the rate of ice loss that's really remarkable.
SAN MIGUEL: And you take ice samples. What did they tell you?
THOMPSON: We use the ice core records to tell us the history of our past, and this is very important for understanding natural variations of temperatures, of precipitation, volcanic history of the earth in the low latitudes like on Kilimanjaro, even how plants have changed relative to climate change in the past by looking at the pollen that's in the ice, anything that's in the air at the time the snow falls gets archived in these glaciers.
SAN MIGUEL: Mount Kilimanjaro is up in the northeastern tip of Tanzania. Is there anything in that particular region of the world that maybe impacts the rate of melt on the glacier, or on snow cap there on Mount Kilimanjaro, rather than just overall global warming? Does the industrial output there, the rate of emissions, that kind of thing?
THOMPSON: Well, the impact on, say, a local climate of Kilimanjaro comes from many things. Land use changes, deforestation, all of these have feedbacks into the climate system. And certainly those can impact precipitation as well as temperature.
The thing that's really remarkable about the tropics is that not only in the glaciers in Africa but also in the glaciers, the tropical glaciers, the Andes, in South America, throughout the Himalayas, we see the same story, the loss of ice, and in many cases the acceleration in the rate of loss of ice.
SAN MIGUEL: But aren't some glaciers getting larger in some parts of the world?
THOMPSON: There are a few. One of those would be in -- some of the glaciers in Norway and Sweden, where there is now been more precipitation. The storm tracks that used to feed glaciers in the Alps where glaciers are now retreating have a more normally trek (ph) and getting more winter snowfall. Even though the temperatures in those areas have actually gone up, the precipitation, increased snowfall is offsetting the temperature impact, so those glaciers are advancing.
SAN MIGUEL: It's a fascinating story, one that scientists and environmentalists are going to be keeping an eye on. Lonnie Thompson, Ohio State University, glaciologist, thanks so much for your time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 21, 2002 - 17:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Some stunning news from researchers who study one of the world's natural treasures. The glaciers atop Mount Kilimanjaro are melting fast due to global warming, say scientists. They could disappear in less than 20 years. One of the scientists who studies the glaciers of Kilimanjaro is Lonnie Thompson. He is a glaciologist with Ohio State University. He joins us by telephone now from Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Thompson, thank you for your time tonight.
LONNIE THOMPSON, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: Thank you, Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: Were you surprised? We've heard about global warming, we've heard about the ozone layer, we've heard about the hole in the ozone layer and the polar caps supposedly mounting. Mount Kilimanjaro, 19,335 feet, and it's happening here. This surprises you?
THOMPSON: It surprises me the rate at which the ice is being lost. We have lost about 80 percent of the ice since the first map was made there in 1912. So it's the rate of ice loss that's really remarkable.
SAN MIGUEL: And you take ice samples. What did they tell you?
THOMPSON: We use the ice core records to tell us the history of our past, and this is very important for understanding natural variations of temperatures, of precipitation, volcanic history of the earth in the low latitudes like on Kilimanjaro, even how plants have changed relative to climate change in the past by looking at the pollen that's in the ice, anything that's in the air at the time the snow falls gets archived in these glaciers.
SAN MIGUEL: Mount Kilimanjaro is up in the northeastern tip of Tanzania. Is there anything in that particular region of the world that maybe impacts the rate of melt on the glacier, or on snow cap there on Mount Kilimanjaro, rather than just overall global warming? Does the industrial output there, the rate of emissions, that kind of thing?
THOMPSON: Well, the impact on, say, a local climate of Kilimanjaro comes from many things. Land use changes, deforestation, all of these have feedbacks into the climate system. And certainly those can impact precipitation as well as temperature.
The thing that's really remarkable about the tropics is that not only in the glaciers in Africa but also in the glaciers, the tropical glaciers, the Andes, in South America, throughout the Himalayas, we see the same story, the loss of ice, and in many cases the acceleration in the rate of loss of ice.
SAN MIGUEL: But aren't some glaciers getting larger in some parts of the world?
THOMPSON: There are a few. One of those would be in -- some of the glaciers in Norway and Sweden, where there is now been more precipitation. The storm tracks that used to feed glaciers in the Alps where glaciers are now retreating have a more normally trek (ph) and getting more winter snowfall. Even though the temperatures in those areas have actually gone up, the precipitation, increased snowfall is offsetting the temperature impact, so those glaciers are advancing.
SAN MIGUEL: It's a fascinating story, one that scientists and environmentalists are going to be keeping an eye on. Lonnie Thompson, Ohio State University, glaciologist, thanks so much for your time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
