Africa images show four decades of damage

The Australian. Lewis Smith. 13 June 2008.

Glaciers, lakes and forests have disappeared from Africa at an alarming rate in the past 36years, satellite images show.

The changing face of the continent was brought home to African ministers yesterday when they were presented with an atlas charting the speed of environmental destruction. The loss of ice on Mount Kilimanjaro and the vanishing waters of Lake Chad were among the best-known problems, but deforestation, urbanisation and the spread of agriculture have all taken a heavy toll.