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As Belgian biathlete Maya Cloetens trains for next month’s Olympics, she can’t help but think about the future of winter sports. Milan and Cortina, Italy.
evidence The effects of climate change are in the mountains around her GrenobleFrance, the 24-year-old fell in love with this sport that combines cross-country skiing and shooting.
Grenoble hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics, but now winters are shorter and milder, and the snow is less consistent. When the game returns french alps In 2030, Grenoble will no longer be the focus.
“Growing up there, I really saw the difference in the snow,” Klottens said. “In 15 years, the situation has completely changed.”
As the planet warms at record rates, the list of locations that can reliably host the Winter Olympics will be significantly reduced in the coming years, researchers say. The situation is serious enough International Olympic Committee Carl Stoers, chairman of the Paralympic Future Host Committee, said that because March is too hot for the Paralympics, consideration is being given to rotating the games in a permanent suitable location and holding them at the beginning of the season.
Fewer hosts
Of the 93 mountain locations that currently have the winter sports infrastructure to host elite competitions, only 52 have enough snow depth and cold enough temperatures to host the Winter Olympics in the 2050s, according to research by University of Waterloo professor Daniel Scott and University of Innsbruck associate professor Robert Steiger, which is being used by the IOC. That number could drop to 30 by the 2080s, depending on how well the world curbs carbon dioxide pollution.
Furthermore, the IOC will prioritize locations with at least 80% of existing venues, significantly reducing the number of potential venues.
The picture is bleaker at the Winter Paralympics, which are usually held at the same venue two weeks after the Winter Olympics. However, Scott said he and Steiger found that starting two sets of competitions about three weeks earlier would nearly double the number of reliable venues for the Paralympics. Their model assumed advanced snowmaking technology and found that by mid-century, few places could reliably host snow sports without snowmaking.
Researchers believe Grenoble is not the only former host not “climate-reliable” enough to host the event again in the 2050s. Chamonix (France), Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) and Sochi (Russia) also did not advance, while Vancouver, Canada, passed; Tahoe Palisades, California; Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Oslo, Norway, will face “climate risks.”
“Climate change will change the geography of where we host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. There’s no doubt about it,” Scott said. “The only question is, how much?”
Currently relying on snowmaking
Artificial snow was first used at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. In 2022, Beijing will become the first city to rely almost entirely on snowmaking.
For this Olympics, the organizing committee plans to create nearly 2.4 million cubic meters (3.1 million cubic yards) of snow. By contrast, when Cortina hosted the Olympics in 1956, no artificial snow was used, although the Italian army did bring truckloads of snow from the Dolomites.
TechnoAlpin, an Italian company that supplies nearly all new snowmaking systems, has developed technology to make snow at temperatures well above freezing. The company said it had sent its “SnowFactory” to the biathlon venue Anholz to ensure adequate snow accumulation.
Davide Cerato oversees snowmaking operations at multiple Olympic venues. He said that with the latest system, they can make large amounts of snow efficiently even if snowmaking temperatures are currently low.
“But I don’t know what the future holds,” he said.
Northern Italy is known for its cold and snowy winters. But seasonal snowfall has declined significantly across the Alps, with the largest declines occurring mainly over the past 40 years due to rising temperatures.
Italian climatologist Luca Mercalli recalls looking out at the Alps from his home in Turin, Italy, 50 years ago, covered with snow from late October to June. Now, he sees gray a lot.
Snowmaking has its limitations
Wyoming rancher Tom Johnston is one of the foremost experts in building ski trails. To him, man-made snow is preferable to what nature has to offer — but with a caveat.
“I needed her to be colder,” Johnston said.
Traditional snowmaking equipment requires cold temperatures and low humidity. Europe is the fastest-warming continent.
Making snow requires a lot of energy and water. If electricity is provided by burning fossil fuels, it could exacerbate climate change and potentially exacerbate water problems in water-scarce areas. For Milan Cortina, electricity partner Enel guarantees fully renewable and certified electricity.
The organizing committee estimates snowmaking will require 250 million gallons (946 million liters) of water, equivalent to nearly 380 Olympic swimming pools. It opens up new high-altitude reservoirs or lakes to store it.
“Without water, there would be no Olympics,” said Carmen de Jong, professor of hydrology at the University of Strasbourg.
She’s critical of building reservoirs that alter natural ecosystems, but she sees no solution – the need for artificial snow will only increase due to climate change.
Planning for the future
Events such as the Olympics attract participants and fans from around the world and have an ongoing impact on climate change. Many people fly there, build new venues and use massive amounts of electricity to power them, emitting massive amounts of carbon pollution.
Recognizing this, the International Olympic Committee requires organizers to minimize the use of water and electricity and avoid unnecessary construction. Storrs, chairman of the future host committee, said it may ultimately be necessary to reduce the number of sports, athletes and spectators participating in the games.
Storrs said that as the leading organization in the sports world, the IOC has a responsibility to show how to protect winter sports in the long term.
The International Olympic Committee chose the French Alps to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Salt Lake City, Utah, to host the 2034 Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee is specifically discussing the 2038 Winter Olympics with Switzerland. Storth said he likes Switzerland because of its existing infrastructure and good public transportation.
This is the future, he said, choosing countries with good climate conditions and high standards for protection. He praised the Milan-Cortina team for making full use of existing venues and reducing the environmental impact of the game.
Diana Bianchedi, chief strategy, planning and heritage officer of the organizing committee, said that from the beginning, they have tried to shape a more sustainable future for the Olympic movement and larger social transformation.
“That’s what we have to change,” she said.
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