Ice on, ice out!

It’s winter, and not really the time for making freshwater observations… but that’s not really true! Northern folk with cold winters have been measuring “ice on” (when ice completely covers a body of water from your particular vantage point) and “ice off” (when all ice disappears from the water from that same vantage point). And that’s what we’ve released, just in time for the Canadian winter.

Why does it matter?

Over time, ice coverage can show trends that could indicate warming. While one individual year may be colder or warmer, scientists are more interested in the trends. We will, eventually be counting the days between your recorded ice on and ice off events to help you start creating trends. For now, we’re letting you record the events.

You can now record ice events on http://app.waterrangers.ca. Let us know if you have any issues!

And remember, just because visually a body of water looks frozen, doesn’t mean that it’s okay to walk on it. Make sure ice is thick enough before going out.