Ice cap on Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountain range has split after melting; global warming blamed

Ice cap on west Ugandan mountain range splits

KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan wildlife authorities say the ice cap on the country’s western Rwenzori mountain range has split after extensive melting caused by global warming.

Nelson Guma says ice covering Mount Margherita, the second highest peak in Africa, has melted forming a large crevasse some 6 meters (nearly 20 feet) wide.

Guma said Tuesday the split occurred on the climbing route to Mount Margherita and that tourists can no longer climb that peak, but authorities are working to create another route to the peak. The East African peak has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Environmental protection officer Henry Mujuzi says that because of global warming, the ice cap, which in the 1950s had covered four square miles, now covers less than a square mile.