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CNN Live At Daybreak

Tanzanian Icon Threatened by Global Warming

Aired December 02, 2003 - 05:34   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is arguably the crown of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak there. At the summit, there are breathtaking views.
But as CNN's Jeff Koinange reports, this Tanzanian icon is threatened by global warming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It begins with a simple fire like this, as farmers clear land for planting crops. Before long, the fire spreads indiscriminately, setting off a series of events that lead to entire forest areas being reduced to ashes. Forests are essential to the generation of rain. Less forest means less rain. Less rain means imminent drought and famine, forever changing the character of a region.

The story is not unusual on a continent where population growth far outstrips the availability of arable land. But scientists studying changing weather patterns in the region have noticed something more ominous affecting Africa's most famous symbol.

CHRISTIAN LAMBRECHTS, UNEP: It's now estimated that by the year 2020, there will be no glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro.

KOINANGE: As we made the climb up the summit, we found evidence of all too frequent forest fires. Accompanying us on the ascent, German scientist Andreas Hemp, who says despite the meltdown, the priority right now is not to save the glaciers.

ANDREAS HEMP, BAYREUTH UNIVERSITY: Most people think oh, they see the glaciers, OK, there's water up there and we're getting our water from this area. But that's not true. And to preserve the forest, this is the most important thing on Kilimanjaro.

KOINANGE: Hemp has brought with him a bag full of gadgets. They may seem simple, even crude at times, but he insists these are important for monitoring everything from rainfall collection to changes in climate conditions. He also has to install a weather station on the summit. The last one mysteriously disappeared.

The landscape changes rapidly as we climb up through different climate zones, all the while with Kilimanjaro's imposing precipice as our backdrop.

Along the way, rivers once bursting with mountain spring water are now simply reduced to babbling brooks. The glaciers that spawned these rivers are shrinking.

HEMP: Even this old, the glaciers of Kilimanjaro and the forest bed is a very important ecosystem for the whole of northern Tanzania and I think there is some hope that we can preserve this function of the forest and Kilimanjaro.

KOINANGE: As dawn breaks on the fourth day, we are virtually at the summit, the sight before us as magnificent as it is majestic. Altitude sickness, a frequent killer of mountain climbers, means we have less than an hour to follow Hemp as he installs his weather station and other appliances on the mountain top. As time runs out, we realize the clock, too, is ticking on Kilimanjaro's glaciers. Everywhere around us evidence the mountain's once might ice cap is not as thick as it once was.

(on camera): At nearly 6,000 meters, or, to be more precise, 19,340 feet, this is Kilimanjaro's highest point. Wind chill factor minus 15. But with less and less rain falling on Africa's highest peak and global warming increasing at an alarming rate, it's no wonder that one of Africa's icons has come to symbolize the continent's beauty will soon, sadly, be a thing of the past.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, on the roof of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 2, 2003 - 05:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is arguably the crown of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak there. At the summit, there are breathtaking views.
But as CNN's Jeff Koinange reports, this Tanzanian icon is threatened by global warming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It begins with a simple fire like this, as farmers clear land for planting crops. Before long, the fire spreads indiscriminately, setting off a series of events that lead to entire forest areas being reduced to ashes. Forests are essential to the generation of rain. Less forest means less rain. Less rain means imminent drought and famine, forever changing the character of a region.

The story is not unusual on a continent where population growth far outstrips the availability of arable land. But scientists studying changing weather patterns in the region have noticed something more ominous affecting Africa's most famous symbol.

CHRISTIAN LAMBRECHTS, UNEP: It's now estimated that by the year 2020, there will be no glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro.

KOINANGE: As we made the climb up the summit, we found evidence of all too frequent forest fires. Accompanying us on the ascent, German scientist Andreas Hemp, who says despite the meltdown, the priority right now is not to save the glaciers.

ANDREAS HEMP, BAYREUTH UNIVERSITY: Most people think oh, they see the glaciers, OK, there's water up there and we're getting our water from this area. But that's not true. And to preserve the forest, this is the most important thing on Kilimanjaro.

KOINANGE: Hemp has brought with him a bag full of gadgets. They may seem simple, even crude at times, but he insists these are important for monitoring everything from rainfall collection to changes in climate conditions. He also has to install a weather station on the summit. The last one mysteriously disappeared.

The landscape changes rapidly as we climb up through different climate zones, all the while with Kilimanjaro's imposing precipice as our backdrop.

Along the way, rivers once bursting with mountain spring water are now simply reduced to babbling brooks. The glaciers that spawned these rivers are shrinking.

HEMP: Even this old, the glaciers of Kilimanjaro and the forest bed is a very important ecosystem for the whole of northern Tanzania and I think there is some hope that we can preserve this function of the forest and Kilimanjaro.

KOINANGE: As dawn breaks on the fourth day, we are virtually at the summit, the sight before us as magnificent as it is majestic. Altitude sickness, a frequent killer of mountain climbers, means we have less than an hour to follow Hemp as he installs his weather station and other appliances on the mountain top. As time runs out, we realize the clock, too, is ticking on Kilimanjaro's glaciers. Everywhere around us evidence the mountain's once might ice cap is not as thick as it once was.

(on camera): At nearly 6,000 meters, or, to be more precise, 19,340 feet, this is Kilimanjaro's highest point. Wind chill factor minus 15. But with less and less rain falling on Africa's highest peak and global warming increasing at an alarming rate, it's no wonder that one of Africa's icons has come to symbolize the continent's beauty will soon, sadly, be a thing of the past.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, on the roof of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com