Winter warmth has prevented Canada from opening the largest ice skating rink in the world, as the rink faces the danger of closing during the current winter season, due to the lack of ice resulting from climate change. Skateway, in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, is the largest ice skating rink naturally frozen without interference in the world, with more than a million visitors annually, according to the website.CNN Arabic.

The huge circuit is 7.7 km long and is part of the 200 km long Rideau Canal, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and connects Ottawa with Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River..

Millions of people skate on the ice

Between January and March, the rink is visited by about a million people to ski, walk on it, or wander along the tracks in the region, but its opening times always depend on weather conditions..

And the rink is opened only when the ice thickness reaches a minimum of 30 centimeters, and this thickness needs to be reached between 10 days and two weeks of “consecutive cold weather”, according to the National Capital Commission, which manages the site, which is weather in which the temperature ranges between 10 and 20 degrees. -zero Celsius, but this year, there wasn’t enough ice to form this thick.

This is the warmest winter

And the city of Ottawa, this year is witnessing one of the warmest winters ever, as temperatures remained moderate in the very cold capital..

A spokesperson for the National Capital Commission said: “Continued above-normal seasonal temperatures and the current icy conditions prevent us from opening the circuit. Skateway this week”.

On February 13, the National Capital Commission issued safety advisories, announcing to the public that the ice was dangerously thin at the rink, with water below 14 feet deep, and the commission stated that “the presence of crews in the canals over the coming days should not be construed as A sign of the stability of the ice surface for skating.

ice rink