Wayne Gretzky learned how to play hockey on a rink in his backyard. If you’re one of the lucky ones with a skating rink in your backyard, it can also be used for citizen science! Scientists have been warning that due to climate change there will be fewer outdoor skating days in the future. Naturally, Canadians are pretty upset about the potential loss of pond hockey! The predictions are based on results taken from weather stations across Canada, but researchers need better data. The Rink Watch citizen science project needs reports on the conditions of backyard skating rinks to collect any information that helps track changes to the climate. You simply ‘pin’ the location of your rink on a map and record every day that you’re able to skate on it - even if you don’t actually go out and skate that day. The RinkWatch website gives you regular updates on results from across North America, so you can compare the number of skating days at your rink with rinks elsewhere, and find out who is having the best winter for skating.

http://rinkwatch.org