Climate emergency threatens the Winter Games of the future

Until this weekend, in fact, the Yanqing ski slopes appear as a white tongue that broke the green and brown landscape of the arid mountains of northern China. The games were launched without a natural snowflake, a fact that alone called into question the Chinese government’s official message that these are the most “green” and sustainable games in history.

The resource is not new: artificial snow was first used at a Winter Games in Lake Placid (USA) in 1980, and has only grown since then. Those in Sochi in 2014, in Russia, already used 80% of artificial snow, and those in Pyeongchang in 2018, in South Korea, more than 90%, but China has been the first to make a Games of Winter exclusively with artificial snow, a fact that “scientists believe may become the norm over time as the planet warms,” ​​according to a study published by Loughborough University in London. In fact, the report warns that the climate crisis will increasingly reduce the number of places in the world that can host outdoor snow competitions in a natural way: by 2080, only six of the 19 places that used to have favorable weather conditions will be able to continue to welcome them.

Another study, conducted by a group of universities in Canada, the United States, Norway and Austria, is even more pessimistic and warns that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow at the current rate, by the end of the century only one city ​​will be able to host a Winter Games with totally “favorable and safe” weather conditions: Sapporo, in Japan. The study also warns that higher temperatures and poorer snow quality put athletes at risk because they increase the chance of accidents and injuries.

Artificial snow was invented precisely in Japan, although the machines for producing it were perfected by the United States (in these games, the snow is from the Italian TechnoAlpin) and currently 95% of the ski resorts in the United States world use them to a greater or lesser extent. It is made up of 30% ice and 70% air, while natural snow is 10% ice and 90% air and is therefore more lumpy. Being denser, many athletes prefer artificial snow because it slides more and makes them go faster, but it also increases the risk of injury because it creates a harder surface than natural snow, according to the Loughborough study.

Impact on water reserves

But the most worrying thing about artificial snow is the environmental impact. In addition to the energy needed to produce it, the main problem is the huge amount of water it requires, which in arid and dry areas like this region of China can generate great water stress. “They could be the most unsustainable games in history,” Carmen de Jong, a professor of hydrology and a specialist in artificial snow and erosion processes at the University of Strasbourg, who has visited China several times for address precisely this issue.

Despite the very few official figures provided by the Chinese authorities, the media and reports repeat a fact: it took 49 million gallons of water (about 185 million liters) to produce all this artificial snow. But De Jong questions the figure. The specialist has made his own calculations according to the extent to be covered and believes that at least 2.5 million cubic meters of water, or 2.5 billion liters, have been needed. Where did this water come from? From three reservoirs that are between 7 and 30 kilometers away from the slopes. “Last year they were full but not this year, and they are reservoirs that also supply water to Beijing,” says De Jong.

Artificial snow often incorporates chemicals to keep it in good condition, but China says it has not used it. In fact, these products are needed when the ambient temperature is around 0 degrees, and at the moment the tracks in Yanqing (Beijing) and Zhanggjiakou (Hebei), where the competitions are held, are kept below -3º C. ” “Yes, some bacteria are used to promote the crystallization of artificial snow so that multilayers are created when it comes out of the canyon, and the use of these bacteria can have some impact on the development of plant species,” he explains. to this newspaper Martí Rufí, researcher at the UAB Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA). When artificial snow melts, large amounts of water erode the soil and leave invasive microorganisms that can harm the ecosystem, De Jong adds.

The first “zero-emission” games, says Beijing

Another impact is the energy required to produce this snow. But in this case, the Xi Jinping government says that all the energy required for these Winter Games is 100% renewable, wind and solar. China says these will be the first totally zero-emission Winter Games, a concept, however, that experts see as “caught with tweezers”. “It is possible to reduce emissions by maximizing the use of renewable energy, but from a life cycle perspective, it is more than likely that snow cannons, solar panels, wind turbines or pumps will circulate the water has been built using fossil fuel energy, “says Rufí. De Jong also points to “diesel-powered snowplows” and the fact that part of the Chinese reduction will be done through offsets such as planting trees, which has no immediate effect.

But Beijing is only getting rid of its “green” games, which include 800 hydrogen-powered vehicles, recycled cement or the use, for the first time in an Olympics, of CO2 captured from the industry to cool the ice instead. of traditional hydrofluorocarbon engines that damage the ozone layer and generate greenhouse gases. A whole display of green technology for the most unnatural Winter Games in history.