Climate change and the Winter Olympics

By Meteorologist Mike Skurko

If you watched some of the Winter Olympics over the last two weeks, you may have heard a few stories about how warm it was in Sochi for a few days.  Now a joint study by Canada and Austria researchers believe Sochi, along with several other cities, would never be able to host the Winter Olympics again if climate change trends continue.

The study looked at the 19 former cities that served as host of the Winter Olympics.  Looking at temperatures and snow pack, and how climate change may impact those variables, the study sees if the selected city could host the Winter Olympics again 9 times out of 10.

Eight cities could not meet that criteria, including Sochi.  The site of the last Winter Olympics, Vancouver, also failed according to the study.

More details can be read at livescience.com: Sochi Could Be Too Warm to Host Olympics in 50 Years