CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS WINTER SPORTS
By Kirk Winter
Just before Christmas, I bumped into a friend who is an avid snowmobiler. While we spoke of many things standing in the mall that day, we spent the bulk of the time talking about his passion for cold weather and fast sleds.
I was surprised when he told me that over the last 15 years his winter sport passion has largely been reduced by the availability of adequate snow. Once upon a time, a short jaunt to Fenelon Falls was far enough north to find the powder that snowmobilers treasure. After a few too many snow-free weekends, he and his buddies migrated to Haliburton in search of cold weather and beautifully groomed trails. For the last two years, they have relocated to North Bay where so far they haven’t been disappointed by snowmobiling conditions.
A story like this begs the question of whether climate change is having an impact on Canada’s winter sports. In the past, these winter sports have generated hundreds of millions of dollars across Canada and provided much joy for those who brave the cold to participate in sledding, snowboarding, skiing, ice-fishing and hockey.
A recent investigative report written by Stanley Kay and published by Sports Illustrated in April of 2019 suggests that there is overwhelming evidence to support the supposition that climate change is impacting the ability for people worldwide to get out and enjoy the best that winter has to offer.
Mr. Kay shared the science of climate change in his article that mirrors what my sledding friend knows only anecdotally:
Since 1950, Ontario has warmed 1.4 degrees Celsius.
It is expected that between 2020 and 2050 that number will increase between 2.7 and 3.7 degrees Celsius.
In the United States, average winter temperatures have warmed at least 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1970, and in the four American states that are passionate about winter sports like hockey – Alaska, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin – winters have warmed by more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Over the last two centuries, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased to their highest levels in 400,000 years, passing 400 parts per million in 2013. Scientist say a safe level of carbon dioxide is 350 parts per million.
Carbon dioxide is a heat trapping gas and is largely responsible for the increase in winter temperatures worldwide.
The western American snowpack that provides the base for many of the most famous ski resorts in the United States has declined by 30 percent since 1900.
When my wife and I were first married in the late 1980s, one of the highlights of the Minden winter calendar was the snow dog races that came to this small Haliburton village every year. Local newspapers reported that hotels were booked months ahead of time, and that sled dog aficionados from across North America descended on Minden in their thousands. After a number of winters with inadequate snow, the race was moved to North Bay, and with it went hundreds of thousands of dollars in economic spinoff that helped the Haliburton economy survive till the arrival of cottagers the following Victoria Day weekend.
A recent article in a Canadian ski and golf publication bemoaned the reality that for many resort owners the only path to recouping their investment in their operations was in selling the property for residential development.
Certainly in this part of central Ontario we have seen ski resorts open and close, and go through multiple owners as under-monetarized ownership groups live hand-to-mouth from one ski season to the next. Rumours persist that one of the resorts in the south of the City of Kawartha Lakes is being considered for the development of an enclave of estate homes ending decades of use by local ski enthusiasts.
It is a simple and brutal calculus that without adequate cold weather and snow, winter recreational activities traditionally enjoyed in the Northern Hemisphere are threatened. Science has told us the climate is warming and we are responsible for it. The only questions remaining are what are we prepared to do about it, and how soon are we prepared to act?