WEEK 46 Nov 4th to 10th 2002

   THE SNOW ON KILIMANJARO

   The characteristic snowcap has always been there, a mirage in the hot, tropical climate on the plains below.
   Now, new, shocking revelations say that the snow on Kilimanjaro is melting so fast it will soon be gone. Scientists are gathering on Africa's tallest mountain to study one of many tell tales of the human created Global Warming, the escalating Greenhouse effect. From 1912 to 2002 80 percent of the glacier at the top of the 5895 meters tall mountain disappeared, like morning dew before the sun. 80 percent. It's a progressive process growing in intensity year by year, and the last ten it has speeded up to become almost visible moment by moment.
   If the melting continues at the same rate the ice will all have vanished completely between 2015 and 2020, faster if the rate continues to speed up.
   And similar occurrences are happening all over the world. And media is strangely absent. Not in the sense that they're not there or not reporting anything, but in the importance they place on it. If the general population should happen to hear about it, it's by some sheer coincidence. Most people, interviewed at random on the street are expressing a profound ignorance about the dramatic event. A few of them know about the subject, can mention places where they know it is happening, but not as the overwhelming development it has turned into. If asked about their personal experiences in the matter they can easily and quite relaxed relate how their gardens are green during what used to be winter, how flowers are growing in December and such. But they can't put the pieces together, can't realize the big picture, what a major, imminent danger it has become.