--- title: Winter Olympics Will Be Harder Due to Climate Change description: The 2018 Winter Olympics will bring thousands of athletes to the bitter cold of PyeongChang where temperatures could sink below zero degrees canonical: https://time.com/5140381/winter-olympics-climate-change/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-09T20:06:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:12:40.187Z article:section: Sports og:title: Climate Change Could Stop These 13 Cities From Hosting the Winter Olympics Again og:description: The Alps would be in trouble og:url: https://time.com/5140381/winter-olympics-climate-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt438a1f4a16dd6e5c/698926f44ee26224d4310d13/winter-olympics-video.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Venues And Townscape Ahead Of PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Climate Change Could Stop These 13 Cities From Hosting the Winter Olympics Again twitter:description: The Alps would be in trouble twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt438a1f4a16dd6e5c/698926f44ee26224d4310d13/winter-olympics-video.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Climate Change Could Stop These 13 Cities From Hosting the Winter Olympics Again  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 9, 2018 8:06 PM CUT  The Olympic rings is seen in Hoenggye town, near the venue for the Opening and Closing ceremony ahead of PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on February 4, 2017 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. The Olympic rings is seen in Hoenggye town, near the venue for the Opening and Closing ceremony ahead of PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on February 4, 2017 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.Photo by Chung Sung-Jun—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 9, 2018 8:06 PM CUT The [2018 Winter Olympics](http://time.com/5128627/31-athletes-to-watch-at-the-pyeongchang-winter-olympics/ "undefined") have brought thousands of athletes to the bitter cold of PyeongChang where temperatures could sink below zero degrees Fahrenheit when factoring in the wind chill factor. But bitter cold Winter Olympics might soon be a thing of the past as a result of climate change. Global warming is [challenging winter sports](http://time.com/italy-alps-climate-change/ "undefined") across the globe and scientists say the phenomenon could slim the number of potential Olympics hosts dramatically in the future. “It’s a worrisome trend,” says Terrence Burns, a sports consultant who has worked on Olympic and World Cup bidding. “As there are fewer and fewer cities that can host the alpine events, you might see a move toward the same cities hosting the games over and over.” [Research](https://uwaterloo.ca/news/news/climate-change-will-limit-where-winter-olympics-can-be-held "undefined") published last month from the University of Waterloo found that only eight of 21 previous winter Olympics hosts would be able to do so again by 2100 without urgent action to address climate change. Average temperatures during the Olympics are up from around 33° Fahrenheit before the 1960s to 46° Fahrenheit this century, according to the study. Cities in the Alps, including Chamonix and Innsbruck, rank among those that may no longer be viable in coming decades. Sochi, host of the 2014 Olympics, is unlikely to host another Winter Olympics even if emissions are reduced dramatically, according to the study. Albertville, Beijing, Calgary, Cortina d’Ampezzo, PyeongChang, St. Mortiz, Salt Lake City and Sapporro would likely still be reliable hosts in the 2080s even without dramatic efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Hosting the Winter Olympics will also likely entail significant costs as the planet warms even for those cities that remain cold enough. Cities will need to produce and stockpile snow to prepare for outdoor events. That was the case in Sochi and Vancouver in 2010, says Burns. Despite these challenges the Olympics may still be the best spot to catch winter sports. The number of places where skiers, snowboarders and other athletes can enjoy their winter activities themselves is on the decline. Many ski resorts in the U.S. are expected to see the length of their season cut in half by 2050 and as more than 80% by 2090, according to [research](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378016305556 "undefined") published last year in the journal _Global Environmental_ _Change_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5140381/winter-olympics-climate-change/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5140381/winter-olympics-climate-change/"},"headline":"Climate Change Could Stop These 13 Cities From Hosting the Winter Olympics Again","datePublished":"2018-02-09T20:06:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:12:40.187Z","description":"PyeongChang would still be in the running","url":"https://time.com/5140381/winter-olympics-climate-change/","keywords":["2018 Pyeongchang Olympics","Environment","olympics","climate change","global warming","Winter Olympics","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt438a1f4a16dd6e5c/698926f44ee26224d4310d13/winter-olympics-video.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt438a1f4a16dd6e5c/698926f44ee26224d4310d13/winter-olympics-video.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Venues And Townscape Ahead Of PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games","caption":"Venues And Townscape Ahead Of PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games","creditText":"Photo by Chung Sung-Jun—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2018-pyeongchang-olympics/","name":"2018 Pyeongchang Olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5140381/winter-olympics-climate-change/","name":"Climate Change Could Stop These 13 Cities From Hosting the Winter Olympics Again"}}]}] ```