The forthcoming Winter Olympics is going to be spectacular. However, the only thing lacking in the alpine setting is snow. The addition of fake snow carries a huge environmental toll.
The Winter Olympics and its consequences
Between the months of January and March 2021, the National Alpine Ski Centre in Yanqing saw just 2cm of snow. Unlike Yanquing, London, Madrid, and Paris saw a larger record of snowfalls. Hence, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is now facing questions on the environmental cost of conducting the Winter Olympics that start on February 4, 2022. The Alpine runs are built inside a protected nature reserve, According to the calculations, the Beijing 2022 games will need almost 49 million gallons of water for creating the artificial snow.
“These could be the most unsustainable Winter Olympics ever held. These mountains have virtually no natural snow,” said Professor Carmen de Jong. Professor Jong is a geographer at the University of Strasbourg. She also added that artificial snow is not only energy and water invasive but, is also damaging for soil health. Previously during the bid in June 2015, the IOC officials warned that Yanquin, the location of slalom and downhill skiing, and Zhangjiakou, the location for ski jumping, snowboarding, and cross country skiing have meager annual snowfall rates. They “have minimal annual snowfall and for the Games would rely completely on artificial snow,” stated the report.
The sad reality of ‘fake snow’
The authorities plan on creating fake snow using 200 snow cannons which will create ribbons of fake snow across the Yanquin mountainside. Additionally, a network of trenches and pipes will supply water to the snow-making machine. Unlike real snow, artificial snow, made by freezing water droplets into little ice beads. Hence, professional skiers get a harder piste which makes it fast and very ‘grippy’. Also, it is not very rare for IOC to use locations with more rocky areas than snow. For example, the previous Winter Olympics in Olympics Pyeongchang, South Korea needed huge amounts of artificial snow.
“This is the world’s showcase of winter sport and it’s extraordinary to host it in a place dependent on artificial snow. The Olympics inspires us about sport, but also about doing our bit to sustain the planet. This is the ideal platform and it is the wrong message,” said Justin Francis. Francis is the CEO of Responsible Travel and a member of the UK government’s council for Sustainable Business.
However, Beijing published a sustainability report for the Games. They agreed to meet the UN’s 2030 sustainability goals. “We shall give priority to ecological and resource conservation, environmental friendliness, and contribute to a beautiful environment,” stated Beijing. They also promised to use renewable energy sources and recycle the water used. “The 2022 Olympics shows clearly how misused and now useless the term sustainable really is. It is meaningless,” said Richard Butler. Butler is an emeritus professor of tourism at Strathclyde University. “Clearly, money, power, influence, and politics came together to award the games to an area without sufficient snow,” he added.
