Earth is warming and unfortunately, that absolutely effects ice structures both permanent and temporary.
Ice presents fun, competition, and culture to many Americans, including Native Americans. None of that has to be sacrificed if the method of freezing water is safe while still answering the qualified use. If running water under the ice is needed for cultural rituals a manmade facility can be engineered to provide that demand.
These temporary ice facilities provide a smooth ice surface if built and managed correctly. In some ways, we should be asking ourselves why did we allow the danger in the first place?
By Veronica Penney
New research (click here) on the connection between climate change and winter drownings has found that reported drowning deaths are increasing exponentially in areas with warmer winters.
The study, published on Wednesday in the journal PLoS One, looked at drownings in 10 countries in the Northern Hemisphere. The largest number of drownings occurred when air temperatures were just below the freezing point, between minus 5 degrees Celsius and 0 Celsius (between 23 degrees Fahrenheit and 32 Fahrenheit).
Some of the sharpest increases were in areas where Indigenous customs and livelihood require extended time on ice. Across the countries studied, children under the age of 9 and teenagers and adults between 15 and 39 were the most vulnerable to winter drowning accidents....
