The threat of water scarcity is a horrific reality in several countries, one of which was the host for the 2022 Winter Olympics — an event requiring 49 million gallons of water to generate artificial snow.
For over 100 years, nations have gathered their best athletes to compete in the Winter Olympic Games, and there is no greater honor than to be the hosting country. This year, Beijing, China pulled out all the stops to host the Olympic Games; however, the looming climate crisis prompts many to ask whether the event does more harm to the environment than good for entertainment.
In previous reports by The Atlantic, China’s former Minister of water sources, Wang Shucheng, had estimated much of northern China, including Beijing, would run out of water by 2020. Rising population growth, declining precipitation and industrial expansion are all factors contributing to the Beijing water crisis. In response to the water shortage, the Chinese government allocated $60 billion on a water diversion project, relocating water from underground reserves in southern China to northern China.
So, problem solved, right? Not quite. The project, expected to conclude around 2050, has significant environmental consequences — including loss of biodiversity, aquatic species and climate temperature variances, according to Earth.Org. With all these issues combined, the results present a lack of natural precipitation and melting glaciers, therefore, depleting water resources for southern China.
This raises the question: how did China orchestrate the creation of massive piles of snow, and what are the environmental ramifications of hosting the Olympic Games in Beijing?
Machine-made snow has been a necessary component of the Winter Olympics to create the best conditions for competitors. But, this is the first time in history the games will take place on almost entirely artificial snow, as reported by the New York Times. If the $60 billion water diversion project was not enough to prove China’s willingness to throw environmental caution to the wind for the sake of economic development, using 49 million gallons of water to create artificial snow on arid brown mountains might.
Unfortunately, the Chinese government underestimated the amount of water necessary to supply the Olympic Games. An interview by the Council on Foreign Relations with Carmen de Jong, a professor of hydrology at the University of Strasbourg, estimates snowmaking for Yanqing and Zhangjiakou will require upwards of 500 million gallons of water. This water was taken directly from citizens and farmers, further worsening the effects of Beijing’s water endemic for residents.
So if not Beijing, where? After examining why the 2022 Winter Olympics should not have been in Beijing, are winter sports sustainable in a future destined to undergo the consequences of climate change?
“It will be very difficult to find a site to permanently host the games because of climate change. Climate change is striking hard in the U.S., the Alps and Scandinavia. Most of the Alpine and Scandinavian venues are no longer candidates because there is a lot of resistance from the local population, because of financial issues, because of environmental issues, because of traffic issues and so on,” de Jong said.
The construction of the 2022 Beijing Olympics might be a wake-up call for sustainability to become a vital component in future competitions. Faced with environmental challenges of an unprecedented scale, what will happen to the Olympics and the athletes who dedicate their entire lives for the gold.
Bethanie is a senior studying environmental and ecosystem science at WSU Vancouver.