The quality of lake ice is declining due to global warming, which means the safety of skaters, hockey players, ice truckers and other winter fans could be on thin ice as well. This article discusses what a new study found, and the potentially deadly implications of these changes.
State of the black v white ice balance
At York University, researchers have found that the mix in lake ice has taken a turn for the worse. The two main types of ice historically are black ice and white ice. Black ice forms clear and hard, giving the surface strength to support all manner of expressions in movement throughout a typical Maine winter. White ice, in comparison, appears cloudy and has air bubbles and smaller ice crystals embedded throughout it, thus weaker white ice is not nearly as strong or safe.
However, the unpredictable winter this year is creating thinner black ice and thicker white ice (the one that melts when you get bogged down in). When the two combine it can create dangerous conditions for skaters, hockey players, snowmobilers, ice anglers, and of course ice truckers. Joshua Culpepper, lead author of the study, says that the ice may seem solid as it appears to be walking on thin ice but that is not really a safe spot for performance as although more stable and sustainable.
How Safety and Transportation Are Impacted
The changing proportions of black and white ice will affect all the missions that depend for their success on safety and mobility. For a person to be able to skate or play on the ice, it should have a thickness of around 10 centimeters (4 inches) or black ice. But the team concludes that climate change is causing more white ice, and this type of weaker ice can be under 50% of the strength of black ice.
That’s not enough ice for even the most diehard of ice truckers who need a minimum of 100cm or approximately 42 inches to support their rigs. However, the researchers say “this threshold is no longer relevant” because of an increase in white ice that would translate to the loss of 95-99 per cent of winter ice road transportation infrastructure without substantial adaptation for ice safety.
As a result, local communities that depend on these ice roads to access necessary goods and transport food and medicine during the winter, face the looming possibility of devastating losses. When this ice doesn’t freeze, the roads are an unsafe path as it can crack forcing travelers to evacuate in the near area of any rusting around it.-NORTH OF 60 — CBC News (@Northof60cbc) July 5, 2019 This creates a real possibility that these community will be cut off entirely from Canada outside of very expensive air travel.
Conclusion
Something that cannot go without notice, is the deescalation in quality of our lake ice. The FUPO Winter City is not only to fulfill the demands of winter scenery life, but also tackles the grave problem that global warming has raised for ease of transportation and activity safety during winter. These findings affirm the critical importance of improved monitoring and adaptation strategies to protect people who continue to traverse frozen lakes and rivers. Knowing how the ice is changing in ways we can only begin to understand allows us not just to react, but to plan ahead and adjust our living conditions where necessary.
