Climate change can seem like an abstraction if you’re not living in places like Qatar, where the outdoors are being air-conditioned, or Miami, where flooding is increasingly common. But for many athletes and sports fans, environmental woes are already hitting home.
As the winter-sports season approaches in the US, for example, those who take to the slopes, and the businesses and people who serve them, are watching warily. Over the years, the season has become shorter due to warming temperatures caused by human activity, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Skiers, snowboarders, and others pay the price with worsening conditions and fewer opportunities, and the changes are costing businesses. down deposits on hotels and properties near ski slopes that might not be open due to weather woes. “So they are certainly worry that they wouldn’t be able to sustain one or two or three consecutive years low snow volume due to climate change,”
Of course, winter isn’t the only season that’s been changing. “The 2020 Olympic marathon, previously scheduled for Tokyo, is now being relocated to cooler Sapporo, thanks to extreme heat waves that have killed hundreds and hospitalized thousands in recent years,”
athletes and sports fans alike are only starting to feel the heat from climate change and that sports authorities and organizations should be communicating about those changes openly, rather than indirectly acknowledging the transforming weather through, say, location changes. Essentially Minter is saying there’s no reason to be coy about our dire global climactic realities: The Tokyo Olympic Committee had a teachable moment and missed the opportunity to inform the public. Given how much people love sports, connecting the dots for those disinclined to take an interest in science could turn fans of football, golf, and other games into passionate environmentalists.