Reassuring? According to an independent study commissioned by the IOC by two professors, Austrian Robert Steiger of the University of Innsbruck and Canadian Daniel Scott of the University of Waterloo, all regions of the world that have already hosted the Winter Olympics should be able to repeat the operation at least until the 2050s. On condition, however, that CO2 emissions are reduced or stabilized. The study estimates that Europe, North America and Asia should be able to offer several potential host sites for Olympic snow sports, with the majority of potential regions maintaining their climate reliability until the 2080s. The two researchers observed that a reduction in emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change " would significantly slow the rate of global warming in mountain regions." They found that this year the world has passed the dangerous 1,5°C threshold of global warming set out in the Paris Agreement. Mountain temperatures in regions with reliable observations have increased at an average rate of 0,3°C per decade, outpacing the global warming rate of 0,2°C per decade since the mid-20th century. According to an IOC press release, the reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5 " will help protect the future of the Winter Olympic Games, including by allowing the Games to be held in one or more regions in order to make maximum use of existing venues. » In the medium term, therefore, there is no need to worry. Afterwards, everything remains possible, including the worst.
