Study reveals changes International Olympic and Paralympic Committees could implement to keep Games viable and safer for athletes.
Study reveals changes International Olympic and Paralympic Committees could implement to keep Games viable and safer for athletes.
New research into the impact of climate change on snow sports provides recommendations to increase the climate-resilience of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The University of Waterloo led the study, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Innsbruck and the University of Toronto, and it builds on their influential work to determine reliable locations for the Winter Games as global warming accelerates. The team analyzed the 93 potential host locations where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) indicated the necessary winter sports infrastructure was already in place. They found that if countries continue with current climate policies, only 52 would remain climate-reliable for the Olympics and 22 for the Paralympics.
“Climate change is altering the geography of where the Winter Olympics and Paralympics can be held. We have to prioritize solutions to the much greater risk facing the Paralympics and explore ways that the One Bid, One City partnership can survive in an era of climate change,” said Dr. Daniel Scott, professor in the Faculty of Environment at Waterloo and the lead author on the paper.
Read More: University of Waterloo
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