Climate change effects in sports go much beyond athletes' heat stress – experts
Clean Energy Wire
All sports face huge challenges from climate change, from heightened health risks for athletes training and competing outdoors during heatwaves, to damages to sporting complexes during storms or floods, and even existential questions for winter or water-based sports, a group of experts told a conference in Berlin.
"Climate adaptation has become a decisive factor in sport – both to protect the health of athletes and to ensure safe sporting activities and facilities," said Germany's environment ministry state secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter.
All sports need to adapt to the effects of climate change to ensure that people can continue to be active, to keep spectators and referees safe, and to ensure that future generations have access to equal or better opportunities, the experts emphasised. Sports associations, clubs, Olympic athletes and researchers shared their views at the Climate Adaptation and Sports conference co-hosted by the German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB) and the German environment ministry (BMUKN).
Europe, which is warming twice as fast as the global average, is already experiencing the effects of climate change. For example, it has spread the tick population to new regions and timeframes, increasing the risks of tick-borne diseases for athletes outdoors, as well as horses. Floods have destroyed canoeing infrastructure, while hobby paddlers have unexpectedly been caught out in hail storms. At the same time, competitions have been cancelled, delayed or adapted due to a lack of water.
Mental risks should also be accounted for, said researcher Sven Schneider from the medical faculty at the Mannheim University. Higher temperatures implicitly lead to greater stress, while mountain athletes are more likely to experience traumatic events like avalanches. Longer-term, the collective psyche might also be affected if access to sport is limited through extreme weather conditions. Mountain towns reliant on winter tourism will need to find new revenue streams, while indoor structures will need to find new ways to stay cool.
Still, unlike sectors such as agriculture, the sports sector can be relatively agile when it comes to adaptation, the experts said. From re-thinking competition cycles, for example moving internationally acclaimed events from the height of summer to autumn, to changing sporting rules, like allowing more substitutions during matches or amending uniform requirements.
Examples from Germany include sporting associations that have developed apps and other information mechanisms to protect their athletes. Some cities and municipalities have adapted public sporting complexes by adding shade and water-retention areas. Some golf courses have built lightning shelters, while tracks have added water sprinklers for hot days.
What is needed now is to implement the existing knowledge across the board, the experts agreed. This would include building more climate adaptation competence at all levels, spreading it from PE teachers and coaches to event organisers and city planners.
