, precipitation is being increasingly concentrated in less frequent but more extreme rains, which causes dried-out land to be flooded by occasional storms.Beijing is one of the world’s most water-scarce cities, and the energy and water demands of the Olympics will be substantial: Approximately 1.2 million cubic meters of snow will be required, necessitating the use of eight water cooling towers and 130 fan-driven snow generators.
There has also been an increasing shift toward indoor competition, as warmer temperatures have made ice too prone to melting. The last Olympics to hold the speed skating races outdoors were in Albertville, France, in 1992. Olympic ice hockey has been played indoors since 1964. Even if the changes are imperceptible to the casual fan, athletes say they can feel the difference between artificial ice or snow and the naturally occurring kind. The fake stuff, they say, is not as safe.Artificial snow crystals are not really crystals, they're balls of ice. It forms a dense, icy snowpack. It’s unforgiving if you fall over,” Lesley McKenna, a former British snowboarder who competed in three Winter Olympics, told Yahoo News.
“You want ice to be smooth,” Smith explained. “It’s easier to maintain smooth ice when the ambient temperature is cold. If it keeps on getting hot and then cold, then it creates bad quality ice. And bad quality ice is bumpy, and if you keep going over bumpy ice over and over, it’s not good for your head.”
“Winter sports are going to be increasingly expensive to deliver and more difficult to access because they are relying on artificial snow and ice making,” Kellison said.McKenna pointed to her own childhood as an example of relatively easy and affordable access to skiing that may no longer be available.
And all the jets flying there cancel all airline travel