Cortina isn't as cold as when it last hosted the Winter Olympics

In just two weeks, thousands of athletes and millions of eyeballs will descend on chilly Cortina d’Ampezzo as the Olympic Winter Games kick off. 

But compared to 70 years ago — the last time the resort town held the event — average temperatures are more than three degrees hotter, according to a new analysis from the U.S.-based non-profit Climate Central. 

In the decade after the 1956 Winter Games, average temperatures in February were around –7 C. Between 2016 and 2025, that’s shot up to –2.7 C.

“That’s a pretty big warming,” said Kristina Dahl, vice-president for science at Climate Central, “and it can mean the difference between freezing temperatures and thawing temperatures.” 

Using a global temperature dataset that goes back to the 1940s, Climate Central also found there are 41 fewer days per year in Cortina with temperatures below freezing than in the past. 

“It’s important to have these naturally cold and snowy conditions in order to ensure that the athletes have the best possible environment in which to compete,” Dahl told CBC News. 

The report says average temperatures for the Winter Paralympics have also shifted in the 50 years since their debut, with their typical March starting date making warmer temperatures more likely. March temperatures in Cortina and Milan have warmed 2.5 C and 2.1 C, since 1976. 

Snow adds safety

All of these data points show how climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is putting pressure on outdoor events — creating a greater dependence on artificial snow. And beyond the competition area, experts say the safety and runoff areas need a lot of snow, too. 

In December, International Ski Federation president Johan Eliasch raised concerns about the artificial snow needed at Livigno, where freestyle skiing and snowboarding events will be held. Since that time, colder temperatures in the region have helped bring things back on schedule. 

But when you’re barrelling through the Tofana Schuss — an elite passage of women’s downhill skiing between two massive rocks where athletes can reach speeds of 130 km/h — reliability of the snowpack can’t be in question. 

“It’s really unfair and borders on unsafe,” said Daniel Scott, climate scientist and professor at the University of Waterloo. He points to the 2014 Sochi Paralympics, where research found a higher injury rate, suggesting warmer temperatures “may have contributed substantially to environmental conditions placing athletes at higher risk for musculoskeletal injury.” 

“So some of them were paying the price with their bodies, unfortunately,” Scott said. 

Snowy outlook

The viability of future Winter Olympics are already being questioned and potentially ruled out on account of climate change’s impacts. 

A 2024 study co-authored by Scott and commissioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) looked at 93 potential host locations for the Winter Games. For those locations, they applied two stress tests. 

“Can you make the snow pack that you need?” Scott said. The IOC prefers 50 centimetres of snow as a base layer. “And do you have enough reliable cold to maintain those snow courses?” 

The latter test involved modelling how much the world limits pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In a ‘middle of the road’ scenario, with moderately rising emissions, around 50 locations would still be considered viable for the Winter Games in 2050. The Paralympics, in contrast, suffer far more in a warming climate, with only 22 locations viable by mid-century. 

But a warming climate may shift more than where the Winter Games are held. 

“We may see certain events needing to be moved indoors. But we also might see that the training of athletes around the world might look different,” Dahl said.