WHERE HAS ❄❄WINTER GONE?
Climate change is threatening mountain life as we know it, so Trail spoke to four experts to help understand the threats facing our uplands.
Anyone who has trekked up a familiar hill under a deep and sparkling layer of snow will know how entirely winter can transform the mountains. Hummocks become shining beacons, ridges become glassy spears, an undulating horizon becomes a near Arctic view. There are few things more brilliant than standing on a snowy mountain under a blue sky.
Which makes a wash-out winter all the more disappointing. Sadly, they seem to be getting more likely. Last winter (2019-20) was, for the most part, one such occasion. Mild and low in snow, temperatures were 1-1.5°C warmer than the 1981-2010 long-term average, and precipitation between 30-90% of it. After recording zero snow patches (year-round patches that last from winter to winter) in 2017, one in 2018 and one in 2019, the Royal Meteorological Society reported “the lowest 3-yearly total since comprehensive records began”. November 2020 pointed to a similar trend, with temperatures again 1.5°C above the 1981-2010 long-term average.
If this continues, which it looks like it might, then there’s a lot for hillwalkers to grieve. The lost days of crisp névé, the great winter routes which may only rarely come into condition, and the experience of being on a mountain surrounded by a vista of white. These things are unlikely to vanish forever, but they are becoming much rarer. Once upon a time, our hills held months of consistent snow. That’s no longer guaranteed.
Snow cover affects almost all life on the mountain, not just we snow-seekers. The plants at or near the summits have evolved specifically for those conditions. They rely on low temperatures, thriving where other plants cannot. As temperatures rise more common plants creep up the mountain, but alpine plants have nowhere higher to go. Eventually, they will vanish from the tops, making our mountain environments less diverse.
Then there are the insects that feed on those plants, and the birds and other animals which feed on the insects in turn. The snow bunting, purple sandpiper, dotterel and whimbrel have all been listed by the RSPB as being at high risk of extinction in this country, as their habitats become less suitable or vanish altogether. Rather than being the stalwarts we imagine, the uplands are the most at-risk habitat in the UK. One study, which accounted for ‘potentially confounding and exacerbating factors’, suggested that upland habitats contained more species at risk from climate change than any other habitat in the UK.
What is happening to winter in our hills and what does that mean for the plants and animals that live on them? We spoke to people whose careers revolve around mountain weather and the environment to learn more.
“MOUNTAINS MAY SEEM ENDURING AND TIMELESS, BUT THEY ARE LIKELY TO BE AMONG THE HARDEST HIT BY CLIMATE CHANGE”