This month, athletes from around the world face off at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. For outdoor events like skiing and snowboarding, one ingredient is necessary: a lot of snow!
Pyeongchang is a good setting for the Winter Games because of its cold climate. Outdoor events take place in the Taebaek Mountains. The average temperature there in mid-February is -5°C (23°F). That’s well below water’s freezing point. If it were much warmer, snow would turn to slush, which sticks to skis and snowboards.
As global temperatures rise because of climate change, fewer cities will be cold enough to host the Winter Olympics, says Daniel Scott. He’s a climate scientist at the University of Waterloo in Canada. “Conditions are just getting warmer and warmer,” he says.