Future Sites for Hosting Olympic Winter Games at Risk due to Global Warming

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 19, 2002

Future Sites for Hosting Olympic Winter Games at Risk due to Global Warming

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Global warming is not just something to worry about for the future. In some parts of Europe, particularly in the Alps region, it has already arrived,and it could make it difficult for those areas to host the Olympic Winter Games, Dr. Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute, said at a Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) press briefing Monday.

"There is no more weather-dependent event than the Olympic Winter Games, and they are at risk," Lash said. "Ski areas that previously could be depended on for fabulous conditions by December and January now have green slopes where formerly giant slaloms took place."

Lash singled out skiing events held in the Alps region, where the snow is no longer reliable for competitive events at lower altitudes.

Global warming is the result of high levels of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere that trap the Earth's heat while intensifying the sun's rays.

The warming measured is, "startling when you think of the scaleof change we're talking about," said Lash, a scientist consulting with SLOC on its environmental program.

"It's obvious that hosting an event outdoors requires cold and snow. With just a few more degrees rise in temperature, hosting an Olympic Winter Games in a natural setting would be impossible,"said SLOC director of environmental programs Diane Conrad Gleason.

Noting this and related issues, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) added environment as the third of its Olympic pillars -- Sport, Culture and Environment -- in 1994, Conrad Gleason said.

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