Winter Olympic Games. Is your continuity in danger?

Freestyle jumping at the Olympics

Freestyle jumping at the Olympics

Only six of the cities that already held the Winter Olympics in the last century would today be cool enough to host them. Even for the most conservative climate estimates, only 11 of the 19 cities that hosted the Winter Olympics could do so in the coming decades according to a survey conducted by the University of Waterloo (Canada) and the Managemen Center in Innsbruck (Austria).

The cultural legacy of the world winter sports festival is at increasing risk according to statements by Professor Daniel Scott, head of research at the World Tourism Organization (GT) and director of this study. “Fewer and less regions traditionally related to winter sports could host the Olympic games in a hottest world" said.

We are shown that venues that have been re-elected to host the games, such as Squaw Valley (USA), Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany), Vancouver (Canada) and Sochi (Russia) will no longer have a suitable climate. necessary to host the games for the mid-6st century. With the expected warming for the following decades, only XNUMX cities that already welcomed them would maintain favorable weather conditions for their celebration.

Organizing cities Winter Olympic Games

Organizing cities Winter Olympic Games

This report focuses on the possibilities of the continuity of the Winter Olympics regarding the incidence of climate change. It is a powerful argument to see how emissions affect the countries organizing the games, and perhaps in this way it will be possible to draw the attention of the International Olympic Committee (ICO) and the main world leaders that the reduction of emissions has to be carried out. cape.

The need for climate risk control strategies for the organizers of the games has increased due to the fact that the average daily temperature in the month of February, which is when the games are held, has increased from 0,4ºC between 1920 and 1950, at 3,1ºC between 1960 and 1990, until the 7,8ºC reached in the XXI century.

Today it would be difficult to imagine the satisfactory development of games without the use of artificial resources to generate ice and snow, as was done in the first decades of their celebration.

The study indicates that in the success of the games, having a favorable weather is very important, while bad weather is one of the greatest challenges that the organizing committees face. The weather determines the possibility of preparing the games and can directly affect both indoor and outdoor events, as well as outdoor competitions, the comfort of the spectators, transport and the visibility and schedule of television broadcasts.

This study also examines how technological advances and strategies developed over several decades have been used to deal with weather risk at the Winter Olympics.

Technologies such as artificial snow, artificial cooling and high-resolution predictions are today indispensable components for successful games. Although "beyond technological advances, there are limitations with which current climate risk control strategies cannot" said Professor Scott. "Around the middle of this century, these limitations will be overcome in some of the cities hosting the games."

The appearance of this study gives us a great opportunity to reflect on the long-term implications that climate change can have on the world of sports and the world cultural heritage of the Olympic movement. It also reveals that for some cities and regions interested in organizing the games, the day to fight for it is getting closer every day.

More information: The year 2013 will be the seventh warmest since there are recordsThe thaw will have dramatic consequences at the end of the century


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