Our days of ice skating or playing hockey on a frozen lake may soon be over. As climate change worsens and rising temperatures reduce the amount of ice around the world, new research finds that the quality of ice, including its ability to bear weight, has also been affected. This could mean a greater loss of winter sports, as needed amounts of snow and ice become increasingly scarce.
On thin ice
Warming global temperatures due to climate change have caused lake ice to “reduce drag, implying more dangerous conditions for transportation (limiting the operational use of many winter roads) and recreational activities (increasing the risk of fatal drownings in spring)”, says a new study published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth and Environment. The reduced resistance is due to a reduction in the quality of the ice rather than the quantity. “Ice quality is important because of its direct implications on carrying capacity for human safety and also on the amount of light transmitted beneath the ice for life beneath frozen lakes,” Sapna Sharma, a professor at University of York who worked on the study. press release.
A frozen one lake It is made up of two types of ice: white ice and black ice. “White ice is generally opaque, like snow, and filled with air bubbles and smaller ice crystals, which decreases its strength and stability,” the press release reads. On the other hand, “black ice is clear and dense, with fewer air pockets and larger ice crystals that make it much stronger.” Warmer winters they are “creating thinner layers of black ice and sometimes a corresponding thicker layer of white ice,” which can “create dangerous conditions for ice skaters, hockey players, snowmobilers, ice fishermen, and ice truck drivers.” Humans need about 10 cm or four inches of black ice to stay safely on the surface. A transport truck requires 100 cm or about 42 inches of black ice.
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Recreation isn’t the only thing that will be sacrificed with weak ice. A lack of transport trucks can limit communities’ access to supplies, and marine life under the ice is also at risk. Increasing levels of white ice decrease “the amount of nutrients available to fish and other aquatic life,” because white ice can block light from reaching the water, the release said. Without light, phytoplankton and other organisms are unable to perform photosynthesis.
Merger prospects
Many popular winter pastimes are now at risk, including skiing and snowboarding. “Global warming is altering and endangering” these sports, “perhaps permanently, and not just at the elite level,” he said The associated press. “It affects people who simply want to ski or snowboard for fun and those who make a living in places that offer such activities.” An increasing number of people must rely on indoor venues, and some locations require fake snow to keep business going.
Recreation is ultimately the least of our worries. “I’m worried about the future of my sport but, far beyond that, I’m just worried about our future and how long we have before this really catches up to us,” Olympic alpine skiing champion Mikaela Shiffrin told the AP. In early 2024, the country “has crossed a threshold where we are at an all-time low for ice cover in the entire Great Lakes region,” said Bryan Mroczka, a physical scientist at UW. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. “We have never seen ice levels this low in mid-February on the lakes since our measurements began in 1973.”