The Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics officially opened on Friday, but the Games have already offered a contradicting preview of how climate change is reshaping winter sport. On February 4, heavy snowfall forced organisers to cancel the first women’s downhill training session, an early disruption that highlights the growing unpredictability of alpine weather.
“Wednesday’s heavy snowfall is a reminder of how unpredictable winter weather has become,” said Davide Faranda, climatologist and research director at CNRS and founder of ClimaMeter. “Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is warming winter temperatures, leading to fewer freezing days each year and making natural snow a lot less reliable. At the same time, a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, so when cold spells do occur, they can bring intense snowfalls.”
Faranda described the timing of the storm as “almost a stroke of luck”, noting that such volatility, warmer winters punctuated by short bursts of extreme snowfall, is becoming increasingly difficult to predict, with direct consequences for winter sports scheduling, safety and fairness.
The Games are being held in a significantly warmer climate than when Cortina d’Ampezzo last hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956. Climate data show that February temperatures in the alpine town have risen by 3.6 degree Celsius over the past 70 years, resulting in 41 fewer freezing days annually, a nearly 19% decline. Average February temperatures, once well below freezing, are now edging closer to the thaw point, eroding the reliability of natural snow.
“These trends are not unique to Italy. Climate data show a reduced number of days with snow cover, particularly at lower altitudes, making winter snow sport in these regions increasingly uncertain," said Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of hydrology at the World Meteorological Organisation.
A recent Climate Central analysis found that all cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics since 1950 have warmed, on average, by about 2.7 degree Celsius. Under current emissions trajectories, only around half of today’s Winter Olympic host locations are expected to remain climatically viable by the 2050s. The outlook is even more precarious for the Paralympic Winter Games, which are held in March, when temperatures are warmer and the risk of rain is higher. To compensate for dwindling natural snow, organisers of the Milan–Cortina Games are relying heavily on artificial snow, more than three million cubic yards of it, highlighting how energy and water intensive adaptations are becoming central to hosting the Olympics.
Beyond the weather itself, the carbon footprint of the Games has come under intense scrutiny. A new report, Olympics Torched, estimates that the core activities of the Milan–Cortina Olympics will generate around 930,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e), with spectator travel accounting for roughly 410,000 tCO₂e alone. When emissions “induced” by high-carbon sponsors are included, the total climate impact rises sharply.
According to the report, sponsorships by fossil fuel major Eni, carmaker Stellantis and airline ITA Airways could add an estimated 1.3 million tCO₂e, about 40% more than the Games’ official emissions footprint. These additional emissions are projected to contribute to the future loss of several square kilometres of snow cover and tens of millions of tonnes of glacier ice, directly undermining the environmental foundation on which winter sports depend.
“The Winter Olympics once showed it can lead to progress,” said Andrew Simms, co-director of the New Weather Institute. “Inspired by athletes, health experts and scientists, it was the Calgary Games in 1988 that took a decisive stand against tobacco advertising. Now the death toll from air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels is on a par with tobacco. It’s time for the Olympics to follow its own precedent and end sponsorships that threaten not just athletes, but the very existence of winter sport.”
Public sentiment appears to be shifting in that direction. Recent polling across major winter sports nations found that roughly eight in ten respondents support ending fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship in winter sports, reflecting growing discomfort with what critics describe as greenwashing.
“The joy of snow and ice and cold winters is something to cherish,” said Anna Jonsson of the New Weather Institute. “If governing bodies like the IOC truly care about the future of winter sports, the most meaningful step would be to stop promoting polluting companies that are ruining that future.”
As athletes prepare to compete across Northern Italy, the Milan–Cortina Olympics are unfolding as more than a sporting spectacle. They are also a high-profile test of whether global sport can reconcile its traditions with a rapidly warming world or whether winter’s greatest stage will continue to melt beneath its own spotlight.