Climate change is something that can affect all sports, even the ones that are predominately played indoors.
According to the 2014 NHL Sustainability Report, hockey's future is in danger as global temperatures continue to rise.
University of Toronto professor Danny Harvey points out, via Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star, that outdoor hockey is where many young players get their start, an activity that might not be possible in some regions going forward:
Global warming threatens Canada’s advantage over other countries in hockey. We know that Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux and the Staal brothers — a lot of elite Canadian hockey players — got good because of the hours and hours of unstructured time they could spend playing on natural outdoor rinks in their backyards.
As the climate warms, we’re going to lose that. It’s not the same thing playing structured hockey in an indoor arena. You need those hours and hours of unstructured creative play. That’s one of the advantages we have.
Of course, this is not just a Canadian problem. Many youths around the world ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Rob Goldberg
NHL Releases Report Warning Future of Hockey in Jeopardy Due to Climate Change
July 25th, 2014 by Rob Goldberg Leave a reply »
Advertisement