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The highest point on Kilimanjaro is Uhuru Peak, on the volcano Kibo. Since 1899 several attempts have been made to determine the exact height of the mountain, but the several methods have given varying results and differ by as much as 100 meters. The Kilimanjaro 2008 Precise Height Measurement Expedition used GPS and gravimeter methods to output the value of 5,891.8 meters (19,330 ft). The top of Kibo is a 1.5 mile wide crater.
The summit of Kilimanjaro is covered by a GSM mobile phone network, and was just previously the highest point in the world with mobile phone service.
While the volcano appears to be dormant on the inside, events on top of the mountain have been drawing global attention recently. The glaciers are rapidly disappearing. Over the past century, the ice cap volume has dropped by more than 80%. Ohio State University ice core paleoclimatologist Lonnie Thompson predicts that ice on top of Africa's tallest peak will be gone between 2015 and 2020. In March 2005, it was reported that the peak was almost bare for the first time in 11,000 years. Though the cause of the reduction in ice volume is in dispute, the loss of the Kilimanjaro ice fields will carry significant climatological and hydrological implications for local populations who depend on water from the ice fields during the dry seasons.
As of January 2006, the Western Breach route was closed by the Tanzanian government following a rockslide which killed four people at Arrow Glacier Camp. The rockslide is believed to have been caused by frost action in an area which is no longer permanently frozen.
Climatologists attribute the snow and ice melt not only to global warming but also to deforestation at the mountain's base, which reduces cloud cover, thus exposing the glaciers to more solar radiation.
No one wants to descend the hill this way! (Safety first and always!)
Some climbers scree slide down the slope, which entails skidding/running down the loose gravel at medium speed.
Merely hiking down Kilimanjaro, or even scree sliding is just too tame for some guests to the Roof of Africa . Those brave few don climbing gear and rappel down the mountain.
The Fate of the Kibo Molten magma is just 400 meters below the summit crater. Although new activity is not expected, there are fears the volcano may collapse, causing a major eruption similar to Mount St. Helens. Several collapses and landslides have occurred on Kibo in the past, one creating the area known as the Western Breach. Local legend speaks of activity around 170 years ago. Could it happen again?
Whatever the reasons, if Kilimanjaro were to lose its snowy top, the repercussions would be extremely serious for those living at its foot as does this young lady. Kilimanjaro glaciers are essential to the survival of the local villages, supplying their drinking water, the water to irrigate their crops and, through hydroelectric production, their power; never mind the blow the loss of the snow-cap would deal to tourism. Sadly enough, the loss of the glaciers could change the entire climate of the area. The remaining rain forest could disappear. And these are just the local consequences. The repercussions of the snows of Kilimanjaro disappearing have not even began to be counted.
