Winter Olympics host options limited by warming planet, research says
OTTAWA — Climate change could turn out to be the Winter Olympics’ biggest spoil sport.
An updated research study led by geography professor Daniel Scott at the University of Waterloo says the number of places that will be cold enough to host the Winter Olympics is dropping.
The average temperature during the seven Winter Olympics held prior to 1960 was 0.4 C. At the 11 Games held between 1960 and 2000 it was 3.1 C. In the four Games held this century it was 7.8 C.
The trend is partly because the International Olympic Committee is picking warmer places to host. Sochi, Russia, which staged the last Games in 2014, is a subtropical resort town where Russians go to escape winter. Vancouver, which hosted in 2010, is second only to nearby Victoria as the warmest place in Canada in winter.