Climate change could call foul on future sporting events
Millions of fans worldwide will be enjoying a feast of sport in the next two months with the UEFA European Football Championship starting on Friday (June 11) and the summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, scheduled to begin on July 23.
Both these tournaments have been delayed for 12 months by the covid lockdown, but all international sporting events in future could be affected by climate change.
That’s the warning from Midlands green energy expert Ron Fox who said in some areas of the world this may be due to drought and water scarcity, while in others it may be rain and storms, lack of snow, excessive heat and even coastal erosion.
Already the warming earth has had an effect on top sporting fixtures.
Last year a typhoon in Japan caused some fixtures at the Rugby Union World Cup to be cancelled while smoke from bush fires stopped play at the Australian Tennis Open.
“These are early warning signs,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science and Innovation Park in North Staffordshire, “and we need to act now to keep these sporting spectaculars.”
Snow sports will be particularly hard hit with research by the University of Waterloo in Canada showing that nine of the 21 sites to have held Winter Olympics in the past won’t be cold enough by the middle of this century to host them again if nothing is done about the earth’s rising temperature.
And the length of the skiing season, which has been shortened already, is expected to be reduced by a half again by 2050.
Even cricket could be impossible in certain parts of the world in 30 years’ time because of soaring temperatures.
England captain Joe Root, who batted in sweltering heat during the fifth Ashes Test against Australia in Sydney in 2018 when temperatures hit 47.3C, was taken to hospital with severe dehydration. Already there are extra drinks breaks in India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
For golf the problems are rising sea levels causing coastal erosion and drought and the amount of water needed to keep the greens lush. Montrose Golf Links in Scotland, one of the world’s oldest courses dating back 450 years, is losing around 1.5 metres a year through coastal erosion.
Even football is not immune with very hot weather a problem for players and spectators alike worldwide, while research shows that that 23 of the 92 English league grounds could have partial or total flooding of their stadiums by 2050. On top of that 70 per cent of football’s carbon emissions come from spectator travel.
It’s not just a problem for world governments,” concluded Ron. “Everyone needs to play a part in protecting the environment by switching to green energy, using renewable heating and ensuring their home is fully insulated in order to save our planet and help preserve all types of sport as we know them.”
For more information on green energy, insulation and call Ron on 01782 756995
Caption: Climate change could blow the whistle on international sporting events in future such as the Olympics.
