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Africa ‘bears the brunt of climate change’

Global warming is taking its toll on some of Africa's highest peaks, global conservation organisation WWF reported after a trip to the glaciers of the Rwenzori Mountains.

The team, from WWF and African conservation groups, made a 10-day expedition from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda, where they were able to take pictures of the glaciers exactly as they were taken in 1952 and 1956.

The data gathered show that the mountains’ glaciers have shrunk by more than 50% per cent in the last 50 years. From 650 hectares in 1906, the glaciers shrunk to 352 hectares in 1955 and 148 hectares in 2008. At this rate, WWF estimates that the glaciers will completely
disappear in the next 30 years.

"The impact of melting of glaciers was felt by the team when it discovered that the route leading from DRC to Uganda used a glacier that no longer exists, forcing the team to open a new route" says Marc Languy, head of WWF’s Programme in the Great Lakes region.

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