Hockey Is Threatened by Climate Change, NHL Report Says

Hockey must adapt to warming global temperatures or the sport could be threatened by climate change, according to the second-ever sustainability report released by the National Hockey League.

The report, released Wednesday by the NHL, seeks to present ideas to make the sport more adaptable to the changing climate. Because hockey needs ice and global temperatures are rising, the NHL is doing everything it can to focus on sustainable measures and reduce its carbon footprint.

"Hockey was born on frozen ponds – climate change is impacting access to our sport outdoors," said the report.

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Among the changes mentioned in the report are a shift to LED lighting in all NHL arenas in the next five years, cutdowns on waste and more education for league employees about how they can reduce their carbon footprint.

The NHL said it does not want the report to be seen as political, especially in a time when the climate change debate has been a major talking point for politicians.

"What I would say is when we do this work, we try to do it as apolitically as possible," Omar Mitchell, NHL vice president for corporate social responsibility, told USA Today. "Because at the end of the day, as our commissioner would say, this is the right thing to do."

The sustainability report is the first of its kind in professional sports. The league's first-ever sustainability report was released in 2014, according to the Hill.