Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
It got its name in the 1940s because of the surrounding rocks on Garbh Choire Mor, a glacial trough carved into the rock.
Records show that it melted on three occasions in the 20th century – 1933, 1959 and in 1996.
So far in the 21st century, it has melted eight times in 24 years.
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This year it has melted for the fourth consecutive year, which has been attributed to climate change, and it is believed to be the 11th time it has melted since the 1700s.
Citizen scientist Iain Cameron, 51, from near Stirling, has monitored it closely for 20 years and believes the ice sheet is a “barometer for climate change”.
Mr Cameron visited on Thursday and said the patch measured around 0.5m – and will have melted overnight.
He described it as “like visiting an elderly relative”, having seen it measure between 2m and 50m in previous years.
Mr Cameron said: “This is the 11th time since the 1700s that it has melted.
Sad day today. The Sphinx will melt in the early hours of tomorrow morning, which means that it will be the fourth year in a row that it has done so.
This stretch was once considered permanent. It has now completely dissolved since the 1700s in the following years:
1933
1959
1996
2003
2006
2017… pic.twitter.com/yV5T9yulA4— Iain Cameron (@theiaincameron) October 3, 2024
Citing reasons for the increased melting, he added: “There have been far fewer storms facing the west of the Atlantic. Not so much snow falls in the winter. We don’t get as much snow as we used to, most of the rain is rain.”
It has never before melted four years in a row, according to 200 years of data.
The ice sheet was initially monitored in the 1840s by the Scottish Mountaineering Club. In 1933 a letter was written to The Times newspaper stating that it had melted for the first time in living memory, by a group of mountaineers whose lived experience dated from the mid-1800s.
In 2003 and 2006, it disappeared, and did so again in 2017 and 2018. Scotland was hit by the Beast from the East in 2018 but it did not benefit the Sphinx as it faces east.
Since 2020, the patch has disappeared every year.
Mr Cameron wrote a book about his enthusiasm for snow, The Vanishing Ice, in 2021, and said he initially felt the title was pessimistic – but now feels it was correct.
He said the size of the Sphinx depends on factors including summer temperatures and winter snowfall.
Mr Cameron said: “The Sphinx is a sight from the last Ice Age. This is the place in Scotland where a glacial revival will take place.
“Importantly, we can see that patches of snow that lasted for decades and centuries are dispersing.
“These patches of snow act as barometers for climate change.
“I’m not a scientist or a climatologist, I’m just someone who writes about these things.
“It makes me feel sad – I’m used to seeing them survive, it’s like visiting an elderly relative.”
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
source link https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24630838.climate-change-barometer-snow-patch-melts-fourth-year-row/?ref=rss
