Winter Olympics and Paralympics face reduced snow reliability

A Canadian study finds that climate change will sharply reduce the number of reliably snowy host sites for future Winter Olympics and Paralympics — estimating about 16 of 93 locations could reliably host the Paralympics in March by 2080 — and it highlights timing shifts and snowmaking as key adaptation options.

New Canadian research offers options to make the Winter Olympics and Paralympics more resilient as the climate warms. It builds on prior work by University of Waterloo researcher Daniel Scott and others that assessed dozens of potential host locations for snow depth and cold conditions. The authors model future conditions to 2080 and propose changes such as shifting event dates and relying on snowmaking. The study was published in the journal Current Issues in Tourism and involves co-authors Madeleine Orr and Robert Steiger. Key findings and context: - The study finds only about 16 of 93 assessed locations would reliably host the Paralympics in March by 2080 if warming continues on its current path. - The Olympics, held earlier in February, retain more potential hosts, roughly about half of those locations remaining reliable under the same scenario. - Moving both Games earlier by two to three weeks is shown to nearly double the number of reliable Paralympic locations by 2080 with a small reduction to Olympic host options. - Snowmaking is identified as critical to maintaining many host sites; without it, the study estimates only seven places could reliably host now, falling to four or fewer by mid-century. - The International Olympic Committee paused the 2030 bidding process and commissioned expanded analysis; the Games now require snow competition venues to be climate-reliable at least until mid-century. Summary: The research documents shrinking geographic options for snowy Olympic and Paralympic events under continued warming and outlines trade-offs among timing, venue size, and use of manufactured snow. Undetermined at this time is how host cities and governing bodies will balance those trade-offs while following the IOC's current climate-reliability requirements for venues.