Snow patch on Scots mountain dubbed 'climate change barometer' melts four years in a row
dailyrecord.co.ukA once-permanent patch of snow in the Highlands has melted for the fourth year in a row - for the first time in recorded history.The repeated melting of the Sphinx, a snow patch on the UK's third highest mountain, Braeriach in the Cairngorms, is attributed to climate change.
Records show it has melted 11 times since the 1700s, and that in the 20th century it melted on three occasions - 1933, 1959 and in 1996.So far during the 21st century, it has melted eight times in 24 years.
This year it has melted for the fourth year in a row - the first time this has happened since records began, with the ice patch described as a "barometer for climate change".The Sphinx, a remnant of the last Ice Age, was given its name in the 1940s due to the rocks surrounding it on Garbh Choire Mor.
Citizen scientist Iain Cameron, 51, from near Stirling, has monitored it closely for 20 years.He visited on Thursday and said the patch measured around 0.5m - and will have melted overnight.
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