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Last Updated: May 30th, 2008 - 11:49:13 |
Over the past century, 80 percent of the glaciers that ring the summit of Africa’s Kilimanjaro have disappeared.
This fact, graphically illustrated in Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” is also explored in “NOVA: “Volcano Above the Clouds,” which airs May 29 on PBS. This reprise broadcast tells the story of a team of scientists who documented, long before the current concern about global warming, what is happening on Africa’s tallest peak—which is more than 40 miles wide and 50 times the size of Manhattan.
The hour-long program is an engaging blend of human interest and science. The primary focus is on an expedition to the top of the mountain, headed by two naturalists, Robin Buxton and Michael Ngatoluwa. Both men know that Kilimanjaro’s glaciers are melting and they want to determine if the disappearing glaciers are the primary source of water for the mountain, which is depended on by area farming communities for fertile soil. Buxton’s quest is made especially compelling because a childhood bout with polio has left him physically disabled.
The producers create a compelling narrative that is both about the scientists and the mountain. As they make their challenging climb, the viewer is able to explore, along with them, the varied ecosystems of Kilimanjaro, from what resembles desert valleys to the thickest rainforests, to snow-covered peaks. The mountain is so large that it creates its own weather systems. Buxton and Ngatoluwa display the sort of enthusiastic curiosity for nature that makes both of them lively and reliable narrators.
They are joined on their trek by other scientists who have their own research to conduct. A geologist, Volker Lorenz, wants to know if Mount Kilimanjaro could trigger a landslide similar to one caused by Mount Saint Helens in Washington State in tk. Everyone seems to be asking if Kilimanjaro is active, or dying.
All in all, “Volcano Above the Clouds” does a good job of exploring these various questions, though it is not able to always offer definitive answers. Answering the questions is the meatiest part of the narrative, which also includes ample historical information about how the mountain was formed and how it has changed over many centuries.
This show also does not separate Mount Kilimanjaro from the Tanzanian communities surrounding it. It explains how local residents depend on the mountain not only for water and fertile soil but for its large trees used for distinctive style of “tree farming,” which relies on tree shade to grow a variety crops within a small area. The inclusion of Ngatoluwa also adds an African face and voice to this adventure and discussion about Africa’s “island in the sky.”
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
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