2019-02-15
Shane Rattenbury, ACT Greens leader and Greens Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability
Australians love sport. Millions of us play or watch sport, we bond over sport, and we idolise sports stars. Canberrans are some of the most enthusiastic lovers of sport. Morning, noon and night we see people circumnavigating the nearest water body by bike or foot, and weekends see ovals and courts filled with kids playing cricket, soccer, netball, footy, or hockey.
Unfortunately, this integral part of Australian life is changing due to climate change. People often discuss climate change in broad, global terms: as a threat our natural environment and to civilisation itself. What is not discussed as often is the many ways climate change is already interfering with our local, everyday lives.
A 2015 report by the Climate Institute concluded that climate change threatens the viability of much of Australian sport as it’s currently played, either in the backyard, at local grounds, or in professional tournaments. The main culprit is the increasing heat, and increasing extreme weather, caused by climate change.
We live in a new era of heat. The Bureau of Metereology’s latest climate report shows that 2018 was Australia’s third hottest year on record. The 11-year mean temperature for 2008–2018 was the highest on record. Regional climate modelling shows the ACT will experience more extreme heat days, longer and more frequent heatwaves, and more frequent and severe storms and bushfires.
What does this mean for sport in Australia and the ACT?
As temperatures increase, it will become harder and riskier for Canberrans to be active outdoors. The official medical advice from ACT Health is that people should avoid exercising outdoors during extreme heat. Heat stress and dehydration are real dangers that cause illness and even death.
If you considered heading outside to burn off Christmas calories during this sweltering summer you’ve probably already felt the limitations of the heat. Maybe you cancelled a ride or a run, or stayed in the air conditioning instead of playing cricket in the park?
Heat is challenge to local sporting associations who run scheduled events and competitions over the summer. The well-being of players and the efficacy of extreme heat policies are increasingly in focus. Cricket ACT's heat injury policy, for example, strongly recommends that “if the temperature exceeds 34 degrees Celsius, play be suspended.”
Unfortunately, in the absence of strong action to mitigate climate change, these scorching days will become commonplace in the coming decades. Already in the ACT, the number of hot days (above 35°C) almost doubled in 1990 to 2000 (average of 9.4 per year) compared to the period 1961 to 1990 (average 5.2 per year). Under high greenhouse gas emission trajectories, by 2070 the number of annual days above 35°C in the ACT is projected to be as high as 26.
Sports like cricket and tennis are likely to be cancelled more often, competitions and events will be disrupted, and participants’ health is increasingly at risk. Organisers of activities like mountain biking and trail running will find that forests and nature reserves – despite being shaded – are increasingly off-limits due to more high risk bushfire days.
Climate change also threatens our sporting infrastructure. Extreme weather events cause flooding, wind and hail damage, often with expensive clean-ups. Climate change induced drought leaves sports fields unhealthy, demanding more watering and care.
Spectators need protection from the sun and the heat. While play was cancelled at the roasting 2014 Australian Open to protect the competitors, ambulances also treated almost 1000 tennis fans for heat exhaustion. Any new sporting facilities now must plan carefully for challenges like shade and flood proofing.
Some sports may not even survive in Australia. In the last decade, snowfall has diminished significantly in Australia’s mountains. Some studies predict Australia’s slopes could be mostly bare of snow by 2050, making the weekend ski-trip a thing of the past. Australian Olympic aerial skier, Lydia Lassila, said that many Australian skiers already train at overseas facilities and “Although I would like to train on home soil, I haven’t been able to since 2009 due to inconsistency of the conditions.”
Professional and aspiring sportspeople probably face the greatest risks. Sport is their job, and they no doubt feel obligations to sponsors, teams and fans to perform, even in extreme conditions. Young hopefuls in development squads train intensely in very competitive environments. Our sports stars are increasingly falling ill or even dying while performing in the heat.
Canberra professional cyclist Chloe Hosking rode the world cycling championships in 42°C heat. Describing her battle to stay hydrated, she said: “I drank so much and my body couldn't take any more water in and I just started throwing it up." At the 2014 Australian Open, tennis player Frank Dancevic hallucinated Snoopy was on court, before he fainted in 42°C heat.
Heavy exercise in the heat can have tragic results. In 2015 a young Perth rugby talent died from heatstroke after training in severe heat. Last year, former Canberra Raiders player, Kato Ottio, died from heatstroke following a training session in Papua New Guinea.
Player welfare is a growing concern at the Australian Open. Now the heat has caused a change to the rules. No more fifth set marathons in tennis; matches will now be decided by a tie-break at 6-6. Expect to see other changes to rulebooks in the coming years.
Climate change is a crisis for humanity and the planet. We’ll feel its impacts in every part of our lives, even in our relationship to sport and recreation. Change is inevitable. Perhaps more sports will move from outdoors to indoors, or from summer to winter. Will spectator numbers evaporate in the heat in favour of home viewing? Could Australians’ sporting preferences even reconfigure to abandon our traditional summer favourites?
To maintain the sporting Australia we love, the best path forward is, firstly, for all of us to take climate change seriously and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate its impacts. And secondly, to acknowledge that our climate is changing, and to adapt with appropriate policies and planning for sports in a climate change affected future.