The case in summary A new report expresses concern that rising temperatures could make it impossible to hold the Summer Olympics in the future. The report includes interviews with Olympic participants who describe situations where they believe there could be a danger to life. The Summer Olympics in Tokyo were the hottest measured so far, with temperatures above 34 degrees and close to 70 percent humidity. The temperature in summer in Paris has increased by an average of 3.1 degrees Celsius since the Summer Olympics in 1924. The Norwegian Olympic Summit has taken precautions to prepare athletes for the heat, including heat acclimatization and optimization of fluid and nutrient intake. The International Olympic Committee has given recommendations on how to safeguard athletes’ health in heat The IOC warns that the pressure on athletes will increase in the coming years due to heat waves and the globalization of sport. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. This week a new report came out about what climate change could mean for the Summer Olympics in the years to come. There, both climate scientists, sports organizations and top athletes express serious concern. These have produced the report The report is called “Rings of Fire II: Heat Risks at the 2024 Paris Olympics” and was presented on 18 June. The report comes from BASIS (British Association for Sustainable Sport), an organization that works for the environment and sustainability in sport. They have collaborated with Australian Front Runners, an organization that looks at the impact of climate on sport, and Climate Central, which calls itself “an independent research group”. In addition, sports and physiology researchers at the University of Portsmouth, Mike Tipton and Jo Corbett have contributed. 15 top athletes from various disciplines have also been interviewed for the report, including the Norwegian footballer Morten Thorsby. – We are in a race against time. And this is a race we cannot afford to lose, writes Sebastian Coe in the report. He is president of the International Athletics Federation, World Athletics. – Climate change should increasingly be seen as an existential threat to sport, emphasizes Coe in the foreword. Athletics president Sebastian Coe gives a speech before the WC in Glasgow in Scotland in February this year. Photo: Ben Stansall / AFP / NTB The new report is a follow-up to “Rings of Fire”, which came before the Tokyo Olympics. It goes through several different sports and also makes recommendations. According to the report, the summer Olympics in Tokyo were the hottest measured so far, with temperatures above 34 degrees and close to 70 percent humidity. The report describes how athletes threw up and passed out at the finish line. Tennis player Daniil Medvedev has said he feared for his life when he was on the court. Athletes themselves worried In the report, Olympic participants from several different disciplines are also interviewed. Several of them describe frightening situations where they believe there could be a danger to life. The temperature was also high during the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Here at the athletics arena on 1 August 2021. Photo: Matthias Schrader / AP / NTB Tennis player Marcus Daniell from New Zealand describes his experience in Tokyo as follows: – At times I felt that the heat was on the limit to serious risk. Risk of the type that could potentially be fatal. He also points out that athletes often do not know when to give up, because as a general rule they are trained to push their limits. Discus thrower Sam Mattis from the USA says it is not new in the USA that athletes die of heat stroke. Morten Thorsby in action at the private international match between Norway and Kosovo at the Ullevaal stadium earlier in June. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Kappgjänger Rhydian Cowley from Australia says he is “absolutely concerned that extreme heat in competitions can threaten the athletes’ lives.” The Norwegian national football team and Genoa CFC player Morten Thorsby says in the report: – Overheating makes it impossible to make good decisions on the pitch. It also makes the matches less interesting for the supporters. Paris 3.1 degrees warmer in summer Contributor Climate Central has reviewed weather data from the Olympics back to 1924, and specifically looked at the temperatures in Paris. People in Paris cool off in the Trocadero fountain by the Eiffel Tower during a heat wave in July 2019. Photo: Pascal Rossignol / Reuters / NTB In the report, they state that the temperature in summer in Paris has increased by an average of 3.1 degrees Celsius since the summer Olympics in 1924. The temperature throughout the year has increased by 1.8 degrees. Since 1947, 50 heat waves have also been recorded in the capital, an increase in both frequency and intensity. That’s why Europe is getting warmer Heat waves in Europe come more often, last longer, and reach higher temperatures than before. Researchers are now clear that this is largely due to man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Swipe to read more about how summers have changed, and what we can do with that. AP How much warmer it has become The probability of heat waves in the world is almost three times as great now, as it was before the industrial revolution. In recent years, large parts of Europe have had maximum temperatures around 10 degrees warmer than normal. AP Every degree counts Scientists have been studying human influence on the climate since the early 20th century, and the evidence has grown stronger since then. Nevertheless, the world’s emissions have continued to increase. If global warming reaches 2 degrees, the number of heat waves in the world will probably double from today’s level. 4 degrees of warming can double the number of heat waves once again, according to the UN climate panel. But now something is happening. AP Is there hope? It may be that the world has finally reached the emission peak. The less greenhouse gases we release, the less these changes will continue to escalate. Many big cities have also become better at handling heat waves. Such measures have already meant that fewer people die from the heat than they would otherwise. According to The Guardian, the French meteorological institute, Météo France, has also reported a 70 percent chance of a warmer May-July period than usual. – Sport is concerned with the climate challenges – Without a concerted effort to reduce carbon emissions, there is no doubt that the earth’s temperatures will go in a direction that will make it almost impossible, if not completely impossible, to organize the Summer Olympics. That’s what Climate Central researcher Kaitlyn Trudeau claims in the report. news has asked the Norwegian Olympic summit what they think about the predictions and warnings in the report. – Sport, like the rest of society, is concerned with climate challenges, and wants to contribute in the best possible way to reducing climate emissions. Predicting the future is not easy, but we all see that there are changes in climate, weather and temperatures, answers top sports manager Tore Øvrebø. Top sports manager in the Norwegian Sports Confederation, Tore Øvrebø, speaking in May 2022. Photo: Hanne Wilhelms / news – While everyone must contribute to reducing the climate effects, we will also in the future deal with the current challenges in the individual host country, he says. Øvrebø emphasizes that they adjust the preparations for each Olympics according to the climate in the various countries. – Beyond that, as a starting point, we want to go where the Olympics and Paralympics are held, and look after the athletes’ health and performance in a professionally safe way. The Olympic summit takes precautions The Olympic summit says that they carried out extensive testing of various measures before the Tokyo Olympics. This was to ensure that the Norwegian squad would be as well prepared as possible for the heat. All the experiences they have built on in the preparations for Paris. The Olympiatoppen contributes with, among other things, the planning and implementation of measures to adapt the athletes to the heat. They also look at how the athletes can best get nutrition and fluids, and test cooling measures. Heat has a negative effect And even though top athletes usually tolerate heat better than most people, and they are often used to the heat beforehand, there is a clear tendency: Ida Siobhan Svendsen, specialist endurance consultant at the Olympiatoppen. Photo: Press image from Olympiatoppen – High heat has a negative effect on both physical and cognitive performance, especially in sports with a long duration, says specialist consultant Ida Siobhan Svendsen at Olympiatoppen. – If it is very hot, it is inevitable that the body has to use extra effort to regulate the temperature, no matter how well trained and prepared you are, she adds. This explains, among other things, slower winning times in endurance sports when it is hot. In 2018, the Olympiatoppen had a climate chamber installed, which should give Norwegian athletes the opportunity to prepare as best as possible for competitions and championships in the heat. Health check Svendsen also emphasizes that all Norwegian athletes go through a health check ahead of the Olympics. There, among other things, they look for underlying diseases or medications that can affect the risk of heat stroke. Both athletes and the equipment around them must know the early signs of heat stroke. In 2022, the International Olympic Committee, IOC, came up with recommendations on how to safeguard athletes’ health in heat. There they also stated that the pressure on the athletes caused by the heat will increase in the coming years. The IOC mentions, among other things, heat waves as a consequence of climate change, and the fact that several competitions are held in extremely hot climates, as reasons for this. Published 20.06.2024, at 11.05
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