How sport is at risk from climate change
New research details extreme weather’s effect Cricket and golf faced with major disruption
Golf courses washed into the sea and a doubling of the number of rain-affected cricket matches are among the trends picked up in an alarming report on how climate change is disrupting British sport.
The R&A, golf ’s rule-maker, says extreme weather is now a “huge factor” affecting the domestic game and has contributed to a 20 per cent drop in playing time in Scotland over the past 10 years. The governing body also estimates 80 links courses are at risk from coastal erosion. Montrose Golf Club has been in the news for losing 70 metres of its course to collapsing coastline.
In cricket, the report – compiled by the Climate Coalition and Priestley International Centre for Climate – finds that 27 per cent of England’s home one-day internationals since 2000 were played with reduced overs on account of rain. The England and Wales Cricket Board says that weather-related emergency grants rose to £1.6million last year from £1million 12 months earlier.
The ECB, MCC, Football Association and R&A all endorsed the research, which found some bright spots: among them, nature reserves at the training grounds of Manchester United and City, and a growth in renewable energy at their stadiums. Saturday’s north London derby at Wembley between Spurs and Arsenal will be powered by renewables.
Dame Katherine Grainger, the chair of UK Sport, says: “This report sets out how some of our most iconic British sports are being threatened by a changing climate. Storms and floods are wreaking havoc on football and cricket pitches across the country, historic golf courses are succumbing to higher seas and storm surges, and winter sports are under threat from reducing snow.”
Dan Musson, the ECB’S national participation manager, says: “There is clear evidence climate change has had a huge impact on the game in the form of general wet weather and extreme-weather events.
“I’ve been at the ECB since 2006 and we have had to implement flood-relief efforts on half-a-dozen occasions. Wet weather has caused a significant loss of fixtures every year in the last five at recreational level and significant flooding in six of the last 10 years. In season, the worst year was 2007, with flooding in the Midlands and the Thames Valley. Out of season, the worst was 2015-16, when storms Desmond and Eva badly affected more than 50 community clubs.”
The report also states: “The Met Office has warned that the Scottish skiing industry could collapse within as little as 50 years as winters become too mild for regular snowfall. Continuous decreases in snow cover have already been observed over the last 40 years, with three of Scotland’s main resorts spending more than half their operating budgets on artificial snow factories.”
Steve Isaac, the R&A’S sustainability director, says: “Golf is impacted by climate change more than most other sports. We are witnessing different types and timings of disease, pest and weed outbreaks. The future threats are very real. It is something we take very seriously.”
Dame Katherine concludes: “It is up to all of us, in all walks of life, to act to address the growing challenge of climate change. There are some excellent examples in this report of how sports and clubs are rising to that challenge – reducing carbon emissions and working to improve the resilience of their sports. Now we need to see this action for sustainability step up a level.”