Glorious vision in Kenya's sky melts away

Mt. Kenya’s ice cap was so stunning that some began revering it as God’s home. But most of the shining glacier has now disappeared, robbing communities of water and leading to a crisis of faith.

By Edmund Sanders, November 10, 2009 Reporting from Muranga, Kenya – From a tree-shaded plateau facing Mt. Kenya, the worshipers gaze anxiously at its melting ice cap and wonder: Is God dead? For 7 million Kenyans who rely on the runoff of Africa’s second-highest peak to survive, evaporating springs and dry riverbeds are making life harder. In the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, reduced melts have contributed to rolling blackouts when rivers fed by the mountain are unable to run hydroelectric plants. But for those Kenyans who still practice tribal religions and revere Mt. Kenya as the home of God, the environmental alterations mean more than a threat to their livelihood. For them, the melting ice and other changes on their mountain have triggered a crisis of faith. “This is where our God lives and it is being destroyed,” said Mwangi Njorge, 95, one of those mostly older Kenyans who continue to make sacrifices to the deity they believe resides on Mt. Kenya. He worries that the disappearing ice is a sign of God’s fury. “God is very angry, and if things don’t change, I fear he might abandon us forever.” … Global warming is widely believed to be contributing to Mt. Kenya’s melting ice. But part of the mountain’s environmental transformation is brought on by local activities, experts say. Lush green forests have been chopped down. Development has taken a toll, from marijuana farms and cattle-grazing to tourism. … Though how much of Mt. Kenya’s forest cover was lost is unclear, a 1999 Kenya Wildlife Service survey observed nearly 20,000 acres of freshly logged terrain. Today around the base of Mt. Kenya, stumps are nearly as common as trees. …

Glorious vision in Kenya’s sky melts away