As Winter Olympics and Paralympics approach, will the planet be affected?

New research out of Canada is pitching ideas for how to make the Winter Olympics and Paralympics more resilient to climate change.

New research out of Canada is pitching ideas for how to make the Winter Olympics and Paralympics more resilient to climate change.

It builds on recent research co-authored by the University of Waterloo’s Daniel Scott that suggested only 16 of a possible 93 locations can reliably host the Paralympics in March by 2080 if global warming continues on its current trajectory.

The Olympics fare better with about half of those locations keeping up enough snow depth and cold temperatures to reliably host in February.

The new research published today says unifying the Games in February is one strategy, but the mega event would raise more logistical issues and possibly cut out smaller cities.

Another idea Scott and his co-authors say is promising would be shifting both Games earlier by two to three weeks.

The study suggests that nearly doubles the number of reliable Paralympic locations by 2080 with only a small cut to the list of potential Olympic hosts.

The research also suggests snowmaking, despite its water and energy demands, will be critical to the future of the Games.

Without it, the study suggests only seven places could reliably host the events right now, down to four or fewer by mid-century.