CLIMATE CHANGE AND MULTI-SPORT USE

摘要

Long, dry summers, persistently dry autumns and very wet winters are starting to cause a diversity of problems on sports sites that follow the traditional cricket, rugby and football rotations. This largely affects schools and colleges where high levels of play and sometimes low budgets exaggerate the issue. During the long, hot summer of 2003, without adequate water, annual meadow-grass largely died out of winter pitches and outfields. The ryegrasses generally survived but tended to grow in a tuftedform. Where annual meadow-grass had been abundant, this left unsightly gaps in the sward. Subsequently, the effects of winter play became apparent all the more quickly. Late in the autumn as rain occurred the bare areas, consisting of a mat of dead grass, capped and become slick, reducing drainage capacity and playing performance.