A team of Canadian climate scientists is predicting the widespread disappearance of outdoor hockey rinks across the country in the next 50 years due to global warming — with some regions of the sport’s spiritual birthplace likely to witness an even earlier eclipse of old-time shinny on natural ice. “The ability to skate and play hockey outdoors is a critical component of Canadian identity and culture,” three researchers from Montreal’s McGill and Concordia universities write in the latest issue of the U.K.-based scholarly journal Environmental Research Letters.(more)
Matthews said he and his fellow researchers “knew this would be an issue that would resonate with Canadians,” and called it a “fortuitous coincidence” that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a well-known “hockey enthusiast.” Matthews expressed hope that the grim outlook for outdoor hockey rinks might “push the Conservative government to take action” to curb Canada’s contribution to global carbon dioxide emissions, widely seen by scientists as a key driver of climate change.
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