Mount Kilimanjaro seen from Chyulu Hills National Park in Kenya for Mountain Day
© Lucas Vallecillos/Alamy Stock Phot
A Kilimanjaro view. ‘The mountains are calling’
Mountains matter—that’s the message from the United Nations for International Mountain Day, observed on December 11. More than half the world’s population relies on mountains for fresh water, food, and clean energy. When mountain ecosystems are threatened by climate change and land degradation, it endangers not just plants and animals, but also the people who depend on mountains to survive. Here at Mount Kilimanjaro, viewed from Chyulu Hills National Park in neighboring Kenya, the peak’s shrinking glaciers and ice fields are being closely monitored by scientists.
The Acraman crater, Australia
Mangrove forest in Phang Nga Bay, Andaman Sea, Thailand
Brown bear mother and cub in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Southern cassowary father with chicks, Kuranda, Queensland, Australia
Poppies in bloom, Moravia, Czech Republic
Sweetheart Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Haaga Rhododendron Park, Helsinki, Finland
Buckingham Palace in London, England
