Expert issues warning about 'rushed decision' changes to Olympic sports: '[They will] enter a period of rapid decline'

Increasingly milder winters around the world are forcing Olympics officials to game-plan for how to hold snow-dependent games in warmer weather. 

It's a problem spotlighted during February's Milan Cortina event in Italy — and it's raising questions about the sustainability of the Games themselves. 

What's happening?

The Guardian reported that by the end of the century, just eight of the world's 21 cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics will still be cold enough to hold the event again. 

It's a scenario that has International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry's team considering long-term plans, including who sponsors the event, "instead of waiting for the climate to push us into a corner where we have to make rushed decisions," she said in the story. 

Every mild winter or severe weather event can't be linked to the planet's overheating. But experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NASA, and elsewhere agree that the continued reliance on coal, oil, and gas for energy is contributing to a general warming that's increasing the odds for extreme conditions and changing patterns. 

Why is less snow important?

Snowpacks impact large regions. When reliable snowfall consistently falls short, droughts and lower river levels can cause water shortages. It's a problem being monitored in the Colorado River Basin. 

On the recreation side, Cortina, Italy's average February temperature has warmed by 6.4 degrees since the town first hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956, according to Climate Central. The group also said the cities that have hosted the Games since 1950 have warmed by an average of 4.8 degrees. 

It's a conundrum that has organizers pondering what it means to sustainably host the Games.  For reference, the Milan Cortina event required 81 million cubic feet of human-made snow, the World Wildlife Fund reported. 

"Even for newer events, some very basic data is hard to find, which tells us about the need to improve transparency for these multi-billion-dollar undertakings," Martin Müller, a professor who specializes in geography and sustainability at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, told the Guardian. 

What's being done to help?

The IOC has been challenged on whether to allow oil, coal, and gas giants, among other industries that greatly contribute to Earth's overheating, to be sponsors. Officials had an initiative in place from 2000 to 2017 that required cities to work with an independent partner to ensure socioeconomic, environmental, and other standards are met, though that initiative was abandoned, per the Guardian. 

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Müller said that while most Olympic hosts claim to be "sustainable," it's not a reality that's living up to the billing. 

Less natural snow requires energy to make artificial precipitation. Travel is also a huge source of carbon dioxide. The Guardian reported that transportation spewed nearly 452,000 of the roughly 1 million tons of CO2 "equivalent" estimated to have been generated during the recent Games. 

Staying informed about how the Olympics function and the impact on host cities can help you decide if the organizers' policies match your values. That's especially important when they are held in a city near you. 

Müller suggested in the Guardian that encouraging more people to watch the Games on television, rather than travel to them, would reduce some of the transportation pollution. If the Games were spread out to more than one city around the world, that would limit long-distance commutes for some athletes as well. 

"In the end, this leads us back to rethinking what these events are about," Müller said, per the Guardian. 

If they don't find solutions, he fears the Games will "enter a period of rapid decline."

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