As global temperatures rise, the melting glaciers of
Mt. Kilimanjaro have become a "calling card" for the consequences of the global climate change phenomenon. As global temperatures rise, the glaciers on mid and high latitude mountains have been melting. However the disappearing glaciers of
Mt. Kilimanjaro, a tropical mountain, is more due to reduced or lack of precipitation and cloudiness rather than rising temperatures. Yet, beyond its disappearing glaciers, many wonder if there are other significant changes taking place on Kilimanjaro.

There are other factors such as downward shift of forest line, land use change, excessive timber harvest, increase in frequency and intensity of fires on the slopes of Kilimanjaro that may play a more important role than glacier loss.

Here are a couple Great references to explore further

The Shrinking Glaciers of Kilimanjaro: Can Global Warming Be Blamed?

The Fate of the Forest: Conservation on Kilimanjaro

Climate change-driven forest fires marginalize
the impact of ice cap wasting on Kilimanjaro

We are interested in assessing the effects of climate change on Mt. Kilimanjaro's distinct biomes.

A biome is a climatically and geographically defined area of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of plants, animals and soil organisms and is often referred to as an ecosystem. Biomes are defined based on factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate.

The GLOBE Seasons and Biomes ESSP has decided to adopt the Biome Classification System developed by The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). This classification is also being used by the National Geographic Society and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. This biome classification resulted from extensive collaboration with over 1,000 biogeographers, ecologists, taxonomists, and conservation biologists. Download the Getting to Know you Terrestrial Biome Activity to help with your own biome and learn about the other biomes around the world. Getting To Know Your Terrestrial Biomes

There are six distinct altitudinal biomes on Mt. Kilimanjaro: cultivated areas; rain forest; heath; moorland; alpine desert and the summit.

The timing and duration of the growing seasons on the mountain may also change as a result of changes in temperature and precipitation. This may result in a migration of the native species up or down the mountain, shifting the location of the biomes, as well as creating hospitable habitats for invasive plant species introduced by tourists. The net effect could be that established ecosystems are severely altered.

Climate Change is already having a significant impact on human health. Malaria is widespread in Africa (Figure 1) and poses one of the most dangerous threats to the health of Africans. This disease is transmitted to human beings by bites from infected mosquitoes and is responsible for approximately 2 million deaths worldwide each year. About 90% of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, including the country of Tanzania (Figure 2). How malaria will be affected by climate change is a subject of intense debate among scientists and those working in the health profession. Seasonal patterns of temperature and precipitation may change due to global climate change. These changes could affect the geographic distribution and number of malaria outbreaks.

Mt. Kilimanjaro offers the unique opportunity to collect data pertaining to a number of major vegetative zones because of the confined nature of their geographic distribution (altitude vs latitude, see Figure 3). This data can be used for comparative analysis with data that already exist and as a baseline data set for future study.

Source: http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/gctext/Inquiries/Inquiries_by_Unit/Unit_3.htm

Figure 3: Example of vegetation distribution (biomes) based on latitude and elevation

 

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