In 2019, a haze of smoke shrouded a cricket match in Australia, emanating from the bushfires that blanketed the area around the stadium.
While the ongoing World T20 tournament was disrupted by rain, it was the torrential downpours in south-east Australia that displaced thousands from their homes. The deluge caused water to overflow across 16 rivers in Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania, along with the western suburbs of Melbourne.
This stark reality highlights the climate crisis on the fringes of the sporting world. Concurrently, world leaders convened in Egypt to address the climate crisis and provide compensation to impoverished nations grappling with climate-related disasters.
Elsewhere, coastal golf courses confront the imminent threat of encroaching seas. In response to unfavorable temperatures affecting snow and ice quality last year, Beijing resorted to transporting synthetic snow for the Winter Olympics.
The Tokyo Olympics witnessed Spanish tennis champion Paula Badosa exiting a match in a wheelchair due to a heat stroke, underscoring the challenges posed by extreme weather conditions on sports events.