Ice Cap

1. The lowest air temperature ever recorded on Earth amounts to -89.2 °C. It was registered at the Russian Vostok station in Antarctica on 21st July 1983. (Study by John Turner and others).

Officials from the Ugandan Wildlife Authority have revealed that rising temperatures have caused the ice cap on the country's highest peak to split, blocking access to the summit of Mt Margherita – the third highest spot in Africa. The mountain is located in the Rwenzori mountain range – a place of great natural beauty which was declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 1994. Rwenzori is one of the few places near the equator where glacial ice can be found, but while the ice cap covered 6 sq km just 50 years ago, it now measures less than 1 sq km.