Laurier study: Outdoor rinks on thin ice
Posted Nov 19, 2015 06:38:51 AM.
Last Updated Nov 19, 2015 06:41:55 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Outdoor skating rinks could be a thing of the past.
A study out of Wilfrid Laurier University shows the skating season is shrinking and global warming is getting the blame.
The study asked Canadians to keep tabs on how long their rink season lasted in consecutive years.
Researcher Robert McLeman tells 570 News, southern Ontario will be the worst hit of them all: “Over the course of the coming decade, the outdoor skating season is going to shrink…Here in southern Ontario we’re looking at a shrinkage of about a third, so we’ll have one third fewer days we can skate outdoors.”
He says once average daily temperatures rise above -5, the ice is no longer suitable for skating.
Last winter, we had between 40 and 50 days of non-stop ideal skating temperatures.
McLeman says 75 years from now, a good season will only last about 26 days.
