www.wwwalkers.com...
The first time a westerner climbed to the summit was in the late 1800's
Evidence of this retreat was first observed by Hans Meyer, the first Westerner to make the summit, who reported in 1898 that the ice limit had withdrawn by over 328 feet since his first ascent 8 years earlier. This rapid change is therefore not entirely due to recent global warming but rather a result of a longer term cycle of climatic events. Studies by Sheffield University during the 1950's reported that Kilimanjaro has had a long history of glacial advance and retreat coinciding with a sequence of eight glaciations. The present ice cap is probably the result of the world wide drop in temperature experienced between 1400AD and 1700AD and suggests that there have been several long periods when Kilimanjaro was devoid of ice.
It would seem that the melting here is pretty irrelevant to the Climate Change meeting. Who ever arranged the location most likely didn't do their research on the history of Mount Kilimanjaro. I bet that these facts will be throw in their face and will look like fools.
Thats too bad because the cause is really important
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