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In 1980 Mount St. Helens in Washington State suffered a catastrophic landslide
that released seething volcanic gases and rock fragments in a cataclysm that destroyed hundreds
of square miles of forest. Could Africa's fabled Mount Kilimanjaro be heading
for the same fate? In this program, NOVA accompanies an expedition up
Kilimanjaro to learn what the future holds for Africa's tallest mountain.
An added mystery is why Kilimanjaro's distinctive summit glaciers are
shrinking. Expected to disappear totally by 2015, the vanishing ice has been
cited as an icon of global warming. But could there be another
explanation?
The roster for the ambitious climb is as unique as the mountain itself and
includes African-born naturalist Robin Buxton, an expert on the ecology of
Kilimanjaro who has been permanently disabled from polio since age two and
whose first effort to summit Kilimanjaro borders on the heroic. Also
on the expedition are German geologist Volker Lorenz, a world
authority on volcanoes; British geologist and team leader Kevin Docherty; and
Tanzanian park ranger and naturalist Michael Ngatolowa.
Like most Africans who live in the shadow of Africa's highest peak, Ngatolowa
has never had access to the expensive equipment needed to make the arduous trek
to Kilimanjaro's 19,340-foot summit. His personal goal: to see snow, a
substance that he has only glimpsed from afar and that clings like perpetual clouds to the
mountain's lofty top.
Towering high above the Masai Steppe just a few degrees south of the equator,
Kilimanjaro was created by the eruption of three separate volcanoes that formed
from 300,000 to 800,000 years ago. Though considered long dormant, Kilimanjaro
shows evidence that it is ripe for a Mount St. Helens-style explosion, an event
that would be devastating to those who farm the region surrounding the
mountain, where a distinctive style of agriculture called tree gardening is
practiced. The technique uses the shade of larger trees to protect crops such
as coffee and bananas from the hot equatorial sun.
While geologists Lorenz and Docherty are focused on Kilimanjaro's slumbering
volcanic forces, naturalists Buxton and Ngatolowa investigate the source of
Kilimanjaro's vital water supply. Are the mountain's melting glaciers a
significant factor in nourishing crops? And when the glaciers are gone, how
will agriculture be affected?
These projected dual calamities—volcanic eruption and disappearing water—are the reasons Kilimanjaro is sometimes said to be dying. It's an apocalypse
that's hard to picture during the spectacular climb up the mountain, which
reveals a succession of different biomes—from village to rain forest
to cloud forest to alpine to arctic, all of which host an
amazing variety of plant and animal life. And in
the thin air at the top is an eerie moonscape, spotted with smoking volcanic
fumaroles, slowly melting 100-foot-high glaciers, and, most amazing of all for
one team member, snow.
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What secrets about its volcanic and glaciated future does Kilimanjaro hold? NOVA follows a scientific expedition to the summit to find out.
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