On the twenty-one sites that have welcomed winter games from Chamonix in 1924, only ten from here 2050 could still agree to accommodate such an event, with sufficient natural snowfall.
Le Monde with AFP
The Olympic Winter Games are threatened by climate change, which decreases the number of places likely to host this Grand Mass of World Sport, warns A report published Wednesday, January 26 at the approach of the Beijing Olympics.
“The risk is clear: the warming caused by human activities threatens the long-term future of winter sports”, highlights this report produced by researchers at the Ecology Group of the English University of Loughborough and L ‘Protect Our Winters Association. “It also reduces the number of places of welcome suitable for winter Olympics,” he adds.
The document takes for example the Winter Olympics scheduled from 4 to 20 February in Beijing, which will be the first to depend largely with artificial snow.
300 snow guns
“The 2022 winter games will undoubtedly constitute an impressive show, that millions of people around the world will look and appreciate,” says the report, which adds: “but they should also bring about the debate on the Future of winter games and the limits of the manufacture of artificial natural environments. “According to the report, more than 100 snow generators and 300 snow guns will work tirelessly to cover the false snow ski slopes.
This process is energetic, water gourmet and requires the use of chemicals to slow down the snow, highlight the authors. It also makes the unpredictable and potentially dangerous surfaces according to many competitors.
On the twenty-one sites that have welcomed winter games from Chamonix in 1924, only ten from here 2050 could still be suitable for such an event, with sufficient natural snowfall. Chamonix as well as other sites in France, Norway and Austria are now classified “at high risk”, while Vancouver, Sochi and Squaw Valley in the United States are judged “unreliable”.