Sport and climate change

The Guardian - All over the globe, extreme weather has wiped out competitions and made grounds unplayable through flooding or storms or wildfires. Increased heat and air pollution puts grassroots and pro athletes at risk – take your pick from heat exhaustion and heatstroke in one hand, asthma and cardiovascular disease in the other. Tennis player Holger Rune summed things up nicely during the Shanghai Masters last year, when he asked an official: “Do you want a player to die on court?” High pollution and crazy temperatures also increase the risk of injury and reduce performance. Officials and spectators suffer too.

Sports in climate-vulnerable countries bear a higher risk. “We have to play on the pitch as it is, not as you would like it,” said Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados. But richer countries and sports bodies look away.