As winters warm, Olympic snow becomes less certain

The 2026 Winter Olympics kick off Friday in northern Italy, but rising temperatures are threatening the future of the Games.

Changing climate leaves fewer host sites for Winter Olympics

Friday, Feb. 6, marks the opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics in northern Italy. But beyond the excitement, few people consider how a warming climate is reshaping where and how the Olympic Games can be held. The cold climate these competitions depend on is changing rapidly.

Cortina d’Ampezzo, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956, shows that shift clearly. Over the past 70 years, average February temperatures there have warmed by 6.4 degrees.

Cortina isn’t the only host city experiencing warming. In fact, all 19 cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics since 1950 have warmed by nearly 5 degrees on average. Even traditionally cold locations have been affected, Salt Lake City, Utah, for example, has warmed by about 3 degrees since the 1950s.

By 2050, the number of cities capable of hosting the Winter Olympics is projected to shrink from 87 today to just 52, as warming temperatures reduce reliable snow and cold conditions.

Warming trends have resulted in far fewer freezing days in Cortina. In the decade following the 1956 Winter Games, the region averaged 214 days per year with temperatures below freezing.

In the most recent decade, 2016 to 2025, that figure dropped to 173 days, 41 fewer freezing days annually than when the Games were first held there.

Without sustained cold and reliable snow, competition conditions can quickly become unsafe and unfair.

The 2026 Games may move forward, but the long-term future of the Winter Olympics will depend on how quickly the planet continues to warm.