Kilimanjaro's Ice Gone Between 2015 and 2020
Glaciologist: Kilimanjaro's Ice 'Will Be Gone' Within 18 Years at Most. Ice Remains on the Summit
Lonnie Thompson told the BBC in October 2002: 'Some time between 2015 and 2020 [the] ice will be gone.' In 2022 the northern ice field was still there, at about half a square kilometre.
What was said
“Some time between 2015 and 2020 [the] ice will be gone - along with the archive of climate history recorded in those glaciers”
— Prof. Lonnie Thompson, Ohio State University (BBC News interview on his ice-core study) · said Oct 18, 2002 · due Some time between 2015 and 2020
2020 ended with ice on Kilimanjaro. By 2022 the northern ice field remained, about half a square kilometre of it, shrinking but present.
The fine print
BBC News, Friday 18 October 2002, on the Science paper from Thompson's team. The paper's own wording (quoted by PolitiFact) carried a condition: 'if current climatological conditions persist, the remaining ice fields are likely to disappear between 2015 and 2020.' The BBC interview line had no hedge. Outcome: PolitiFact (2022) reported 'Kilimanjaro's glaciers haven't fully disappeared' and quoted a researcher that only the northern ice field remains, 'now about half a square kilometer in size.'
Later spin
PolitiFact, 2022: experts said the ice loss trend is clear and that using the missed date to dispute climate change is misleading.
Sources
- Kilimanjaro's ice 'archive' - BBC News (Oct 18, 2002)accessed 2026-10-09
- Kilimanjaro's ice fields didn't disappear by 2020 - PolitiFact (Feb 7, 2022)accessed 2026-10-09