By examining historical weather and air quality data as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 5th Assessment Report, this paper predicts climate conditions for the Olympic Games and FIFA Men's World Cups between 2022 and 2032. The intention behind this reseach was to provide these predictions for organizers to better plan for the impact of climate on their events and legacies in the long-term. The most immediate concern for all of these events will be extreme heat conditions unsuitable for competition; however, poor air quality and impacts brought by climate change may be detrimental to the legacies of these events well after the events have completed. We find that it is more difficult to properly plan for FIFA Men's World Cups due to the large geographic spread of the host communities, while Olympic Games are more precise due to their focus (largely) on one host city. As we further change our climate, the impacts to these events may change even in the decade to come. It will be better for organizers and host communities to be over-prepared for climate adaptation rather than underprepared.
CITE: Ross, W. J., & Orr, M. (2021). Predicting climate impacts to Olympic Games and FIFA Men’s World Cups from 2022 to 2032. Sport in Society. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/17430437.2021.1984426.
