Where is Mount Kilimanjaro and why is it in trouble?

Africa is a continent associated with forests, rivers and deserts with pyramids. But it has a few rare glaciers in striking locations where no one expects a snowy mountain to pop out of a forested plain. But according to recent weather observations, these glaciers are fated to disappear in the next two decades because of climate change! 

Where is Mount Kilimanjaro?  
Mount Kilimanjaro is on the northern border of Tanzania, an East African country. Mt Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa. It is also the highest freestanding mountain the world. What does that mean? Unlike Mount Everest, which is part of a mountain range, Mount Kilimanjaro is a dead volcano, one of the largest in the world. So it is literally just one mountain sticking out in a plain, it is not part of a hilly region at all. Kilimanjaro’s summits are not actually peaks, but highest points on the crater rim running along the centre of the volcano. One of the Seven Summits rises up to 19,341feet above sea level.  Scientists estimate that it was formed around 750,000 years ago, and the last major eruption happened around 3,60,000 years ago. 

Why is Mount Kilimanjaro important? 
The Kilimanjaro National Park was declared part of a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1973. This was done to protect and conserve the delicate flora and fauna of the area. There are a lot of plants and animals in this Park that are not to be found anywhere else in the world. Disturbing this region would mean upsetting the balance of a much wider area. Weather systems are inter-dependant, so an imbalance at a key point means the effects would travel all over the continent and its neighbouring seas.  

What does the latest weather report tell us about Kilimanjaro’s snow? 
The report from the World Meteorological Organisation and other agencies has been released ahead of the U.N. climate conference billed to start on October 31. The new report points out that the glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya and the Rwenzori Mountains in Africa are shrinking rapidly due to global warming and would not exist beyond the 2040s. This could spell disaster for not just Africa, but the rest neighbouring countries too.