Beijing, Europe Brief News – Due to climate change, this is the first time in history that the Olympic Games Beijing will have to produce all of its own snow. Organisers have expected this to some extent as Beijing has not been known as the snowy city.
We have seen in recent years that winter sports have been massively dependent on artificial conditions.
Timothy Kellison, Director of the Centre for Sport and Urban Policy at Georgia State University said “Things have been trending in this direction for quite some time”.
Artificial snow can level the playing field and provide consistent conditions for sports. But this also indicates that the ideal conditions for outdoor games like Alpine skiing are getting tougher to find in nature.
From dealing with freezing conditions a week ago, organisers at the Beijing Winter Paralympics are sweating over rising temperatures that have brought with them unexpected challenges for athletes.
Increasing temperature due to climate change means that more winter precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, and the snow that does fall can be less substantial.
Rescheduling of Olympic Games Beijing Due to Climate Change:
With the increasing risk of snow melting, the super combined events in Alpine skiing which were originally scheduled for Tuesday at the Yanqing National Alpine skiing centre had to be held a day earlier.
The warm weather has become a serious concern for athletes’ physical demands and made it difficult for athletes to traverse the slope which is resulting in slower times and number of crashes.
Liu Sitong, Chinese athlete who won bronze in women’s super combined sitting event said “The technical event is held in the afternoon and the snow surface is starting to melt ”.
She Further added “ I think it’s good enough that everyone finished the run safely and successfully. The snow course is not ideal. We rarely ski on snow in this kind of condition. On this slope, a single mistake can affect the result noticeably”.
Artificial snow made by using high-powered snow machines was a hot topic of discussion during last months winter Olympics as some athletes underling the dangers of manmade snow in the run up to the games.
The organisers announced that they have a backup plan ready in case of extreme weather which may include the production of more snow.
Yang Shu’An, Vice President of the Organizing committee said “ The change in weather is natural law and we need to respect nature”.
