Artificial snow at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
On Friday, February 4, 2022, the Olympics officially kicked off in Beijing, China. The United States is represented by 223 athletes who will compete in hopes of winning gold. Over the past few years, the Olympics have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, but there is another issue at play with this Olympic year: the snow, or the lack thereof.
This year will be the first year that a Winter Olympics produces almost all of the snow used within the Games. Beijing will use over 49 million gallons of water to produce roughly 42.4 million cubic feet of snow. This will be done by operating 170 fan-powered snow guns and30 fanless stick lances. Stick lances look like lantern poles and are permanently installed along the edge of the designated area. Both the snow guns and stick lances will operate 24 hours a day to produce the snow needed at both venues in Beijing. In the past, other Olympics have produced their own snow. In 2014, Sochi produced roughly 80% of snowand in 2018 PyeongChang produced roughly 90% of snow.
The production of artificial snow is very costly, utilizes large amounts of energy, and has significant impacts on local and national water supply. Northern China, where Beijing is located, has a critical issue with its groundwater supply. People are not only concerned about the environmental impacts, but also the impacts on athletes. Artificial snow canbe harder on athletes' bodiesthan natural snow becauseit consists of more ice, making takeoffs, landingsand alpine races more difficult and dangerous.
Why should you care?
Well, many of our favorite ski resorts in the United States and Canada rely on artificial snow, just like the Olympics. Multiple resorts in Colorado rely on artificial snow because ofincreasingly warmer temperatures, lack of snowfalland the unpredictability of when snow will fall. Relying on artificial snow is impacting the water supply in the drought-stricken Western United States. Colorado’s economy relies heavily on the ski and snowboard industry, and artificial snowcould become a topic of debate when politicians debate how we will relocate our already limited water supply.
This is one example of how climate change is impacting Colorado and its residents. It may be easy to think of climate change as happening “over there” and push it out of our minds; however, it couldn’t be closer to home.
The small changes you make add up. If you are looking for ways to combat your carbon footprint,check out this article about 5 ways to become more sustainable.