Snow patch known as U.K.'s longest-lasting vanishes for 4th year in a row

The Sphinx snow patch in Scotland used to linger year-round, but it has melted for the fourth consecutive year. Experts see it as a harbinger of climate change.

A patch of snow in the Scottish Highlands dubbed the Sphinx typically lingers year-round, staying frozen through the summer. But it has melted away for the fourth consecutive year — only the 10th time in more than three centuries that has happened.The Sphinx, which adorns the side of Braeriach, the third-highest mountain in Great Britain, was historically considered the United Kingdom’s longest-lasting snow patch because it was known for sticking around even after most snow and ice vanished every year in Scotland’s Cairngorms mountain range.

In September, however, the patch melted entirely, as it has every year since 2021. In the 20th century, by comparison, the Sphinx vanished just three times.

Such snow patches tend to be sensitive to small fluctuations in temperatures, experts say, so they can act as harbingers of the broader consequences of climate change. The melting of the Sphinx, then, offers clues about how climate change is affecting the Scottish Highlands — and by extension the rest of the country and the world.

“The Sphinx melting for four years in a row now is a good indicator of these changes,” said Grant Moir, CEO of the Cairngorms National Park Authority. “Climate change was always relatively high up on the agenda for us as a national park, and we’re seeing impacts on the Highlands more and more. You get an idea from the Sphinx of the changes that are happening to our climate.”

The Sphinx is on Braeriach, part of Scotland's Cairngorms mountain range.Climate CentreIn addition to snowmelt, Moir said, the Highlands are experiencing more frequent storms and floods, interspersed with longer periods of dry weather that increase the risk of wildfires.Shifts in snow cover across the Highlands have consequences for the mountain ecosystems, since they alter the natural hydrological cycle in which snow gradually melts from mountains and flows into streams.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/climate-change/snow-patch-scotland-uk-vanished-rcna171272

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