There’s a lot to be worried about when it comes to global warming and climate change: Rising sea levels, killer heat waves, extreme storms, to a name a few.

Now comes word it might affect hockey.

So if the doomsayers haven’t gotten your attention about the dangers of rising temperatures, Canada, then maybe the NHL’s warning that it will affect the future of the sport will.

The National Hockey League released its Sustainability Report, an annual review of how the league and its member teams are tackling environmental concerns, and issued with it a warning in a letter from commissioner Gary Bettman.

“Our sport can trace its roots to frozen freshwater ponds, to cold climates,” said Bettman. “Major environmental challenges, such as climate change and freshwater scarcity, affect opportunities for hockey players of all ages to learn and play the game outdoors.”

The NHL’s “Green” initiatives — which include some remarkable environmental moves by the Toronto Maple Leafs -- have drawn praise from those on the leading edge to fight global warming.

“Global warming threatens Canada’s advantage over other countries in hockey,” said professor Danny Harvey, of the University of Toronto geography faculty. “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.

“If we want to keep winning those Olympic gold medals in hockey, you’d better hope it doesn’t warm up too much.”

Far more than hockey is affected, of course, and Harvey noted that businesses affected by climate change are starting to get concerned: ski operators in Colorado have issued statements similar to those of Bettman.

Vineyards, coastal communities, the agricultural sector, even insurance companies that deal with the aftermath of more frequent violent storms, are scrutinizing the economic impact of global warming.

The NHL’s report — part of the league’s NHL Green campaign — is touted as the first of its kind produced by a major sports league in North America. It examines the league’s carbon footprint and measures teams’ success in reducing waste and recycling.

“This document is an important reminder to all sports fans, leagues, teams and businesses that while natural hockey ice might be the ‘canary in the coal mine’ when it comes to the effects of climate change on sports, the effects of climate disruption are a challenge to all leagues and businesses, and we must take meaningful action to reverse course,” said Dr. Allen Hershkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who helped compile the report.

The Maple Leafs, for example, reduced by 74 per cent the amount of landfill waste produced at the Air Canada Centre since 2007 when Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment started its Team Up Green campaign.

All unsold food from Leafs games goes to Second Harvest while food waste is turned into a safe, nutrient-rich effluent — in-house, meaning no need for trucks on roads — thanks to a food disposal system called Orca. The Orca system accelerates the breakdown of food waste by adding micro-organisms and water to the composting process.

“It’s efficient that it’s not in landfill, it’s efficient that it’s not being transported and we’re taking trucks off the road,” said Bryan Leslie, the director of building operations and Team Up Green at MLSE.

Other Leafs initiatives: They removed chemicals from the playing ice by using a reverse-osmosis system; the building’s cooling system was modified; old cooking oil is converted into biodiesel; and incandescent bulbs and inefficient fluorescent lights were replaced with energy-efficient LEDs.

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“We took a holistic approach to what we are doing from an energy standpoint,” said Leslie. “I asked the engineers to wear a green hat when they’re doing what they’re doing, and think about the outcome of their decisions.”

The Leafs do it because they think it’s important.

“We care,” said Leslie. “Just the same way I chase my kids around my house to shut the lights off, I do that in this house (the ACC).

“The way the world is going, the Gen-Yers, the next generation, were born recycling. They have this in their blood, and if we don’t do it, as employees they might not stay, and as fans they might not stay. We don’t want that.”

Leslie said MLSE is always looking for a return on investment (ROI) in all its endeavors, including new green endeavors.

“Everything we’ve done has had a very good ROI. Some things aren’t an ROI in dollars, though. Some things are an environmental ROI.”

The league also disclosed that its carbon footprint — approximately 530,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year. This number accounts for league and club business activities and travel for over 182 game days, 1,230 regular-season games, over 60 playoff contests and nearly 3.2 million kilometres of team air travel per season.

By way of comparison, annual emissions from the single largest coal power plant in the United States total 23 million tonnes, according to the report.

“At the NHL, we recognize that we have great responsibility for the way we conduct our business, and we are uniquely positioned to promote the environmental message,” Bettman wrote.

Bettman wrote that the effort to reduce the NHL’s environment impact “is not only the right thing to do for the environment, but is also a core strategy for the long-term success of our league.

“We have a vested interest in this cause,” Bettman wrote. “As a business, we rely on fresh water to make our ice, on energy to fuel our operations and on healthy communities for our athletes, employees and fans to live, work and play.”

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