When discussing climate change, statements regarding rising sea levels, fossil fuels and other seemingly distant environmental concerns are thrown into the conversation without any real impact. While these issues are crucial to the health of our planet, it can sometimes feel overwhelming or even unimportant at times, given the impersonal and mundane nature of these problems. We know the climate crisis is a concerning and pressing issue; it can be hard to conceptualise the rate at which our planet is declining and just how hard it will hit us. It often isn’t until something real or quantifiable presents itself that we can see the true toll of climate change, and at that point, it is too late.
A perfect example of one of these events or physical measures of climate change is the Winter Olympics. This year, the 2026 Olympics were hosted in Milan-Cortina, Italy, and took on a slightly different setup than previous Olympics. Over twenty days of competition, athletes competed across a more widespread course than in the past, venues spread from Milan, Verona, Valtellina, and Val De Femme. In addition to the projected €5.2 billion in spending, a New Weather Institute reports that these games will lead to an additional 3.2 square kilometer loss of future snow fall. These statistics are from this year’s games themselves, not including the high emission sponsor impact, and the damage we cause on our own leading up to the Olympics.
At the rate we are going, it’s unlikely the winter Olympics can continue much longer. According to Climate Central, temperatures in Cortina have risen 3.6 degrees celsius since 1950, when they first hosted the Winter Olympics. It is not just an Italy problem; the number of reliable hosts for the games is dwindling as global temperatures spike. In efforts to limit the environmental impact of the Olympics, organisers prefer to pick cities with existing infrastructure. However, many of those 93 mountain locations have been deemed unreliable due to a lack of snow depth and sufficiently cold temperatures. These warmer conditions would pose a serious threat to competitors, and the situation is even worse for the Paralympics which typically takes place about a month after the Olympics.
The threat of climate change in the winter Olympics is not just about having less snow. Despite reducing the overall snowpack, it paradoxically increases the intensity of extreme snowfall. These harsh conditions can cause significant damage to infrastructure, nature, and power lines, resulting in economic hardship, health threats and more catastrophic weather events. This sort of snowfall, weak at first and heavy later on, forms perfect conditions for an avalanche. The rapid accumulation of heavy snow onto weak layers of snow poses a risk that more and more ski resorts are worrying about these days.
Alongside the unpredictable weather events that can occur, the Olympics are already familiar with the threat of declining snowfall. In 1980, at the New York games, organisers were forced to use artificial snow due to the unexpectedly dry winter. Now, the Winter Olympics are almost entirely dependent on fake snow. Although fluffing some of the snowy landscapes with more artificial snow may have been inevitable, the plan was never to cover entire olympic venues with fake snow. These machines are not only energy intensive, pumping fossil fuels into the atmosphere, but it requires a massive consumption of water. The process of pumping water to these machines also takes an immense amount of energy, but the pipes, trails, and pumping sites are all disruptive to natural habitats. The snow from these machines is obviously different from regular snow in many ways: it contains chemicals, which pollute runoff, and it melts about 2-4 weeks earlier than regular snow, changing and disrupting natural routines.
If the environmental damages are not of great enough concern, the athletes are also being put at risk. In a study by Loughborough University, various athletes, coaches, and other sports professionals have expressed concerns around more frequent injuries with the use of artificial snow. However, they also pointed out the unpredictability of real snow in today’s weather conditions. Similarly, summer athletes brought attention to the dangerously hot temperatures they have had to endure. For both groups of athletes, the climate crisis is less than ideal, and at this rate, we will see more injuries, fewer athletes able to compete, poorer performances, and maybe one day no more Olympics.
Given the importance of environment, weather, and atmosphere at the Olympics, one would assume the organisers would be taking much bigger strides to make the events more sustainable, but most of their progress seems limited, if not performative. The main effort is to prioritise pre-existing venues and use more renewable energy, which are steps in the right direction, but they need to be more aggressive and vocal about their movements. This year, the Milano Cortina Olympics partnered with Eni, ITA Airways, and Stellantis; together, these companies are estimated to produce 1.3 million tonnes of Co2. The International Olympic Committee has an opportunity, if not a duty, to send a message and make real changes that matter when our planet is suffering. Partnering with a massive automotive company, an energy company, and an airline does exactly the opposite. Furthermore, people from around the world are watching the Olympics and constantly consuming Olympic content, whether it be on TV, TikTok, Instagram, or the news. Posting more content related to sustainability in the Olympic village not only brings awareness to the issue but makes people feel more immersed in the Olympic spirit. Hopefully, there are some greater changes coming because if not, the future of the Olympics remains unclear.
