How do Climate Change and Global Warming affect the Olympic Games?
Climate Change causes droughts, floods, heat waves, intense storms, changes in rainfall etc. Of course, these changes affect the Olympic Games too! Imagine running a marathon in a heat wave! Summer and Winter Olympics are affected. Let’s see how:
Winter sports : Warmer temperatures produce less snow for skiing etc. The games sometimes need to be postponed. Fewer places are able to host the Winter Olympic Games. Reports say that more than half of traditional Winter Olympic hosts will not be able to host the Games by 2050. The climate in many traditional winter sports locations isn’t what it used to be.
Summer sports: Extreme heat makes training difficult. Athletes need to travel farther to find suitable weather conditions to train. Athletes may suffer from heatstroke during the Marathon. Competing or just watching outdoor sports is becoming more difficult because of the heat.
Pitches, fields and arenas become unsuitable for the Olympic Games. There are heavier downpours of rain in certain areas. The pitches become soggy and sometimes flooded making them unsuitable for the games. This affects all the sports played there. Cricket is the most affected sport of all so far because it is affected by both extreme heat and flooding.
Climate change is making the weather more unpredictable than ever before. Already there are cancellations of sports events because of the changes in temperature and weather conditions. In the near future, this may lead to changes in the schedule of the Olympic Games. For example, the summer Olympics may need to be scheduled for autumn or spring because of the extreme heat.
Answer the questions:
- Global warming is causing less snowfall. Can you think of some sports which are affected by this: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
- Name some sports which are affected by the heavier downpours of rain which cause flooding: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
- Which Olympic sports do you think will be affected by the extreme heat in the future? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
- Now, remember the grammar rules for comparisons of adjectives and do this exercise.
