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Sunshine Swetnam

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Assistant Professor of Natural Resources, Colorado State University

Italy’s Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium, which is hosting events for the 2026 Winter Olympics, needed snowmaking machines for the Italian National Championship Open on Dec. 23, 2025. Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images

February 3, 2026

Climate change threatens the Winter Olympics’ future – and even snowmaking has limits for saving the Games

Steven R. Fassnacht, Colorado State University and Sunshine Swetnam, Colorado State University

Innovations have made recent Winter Games possible, but the future climate will have a big impact on where the Olympics can be held and winter sports themselves.

Almost all of the snow at the 2022 Winter Olympics came from machines. AP Photo/Gregory Bull

February 19, 2022

How climate change threatens the Winter Olympics’ future – even snowmaking has limits for saving the Games

Steven R. Fassnacht, Colorado State University and Sunshine Swetnam, Colorado State University

Innovation made the 2022 Winter Games possible in Beijing, but snowmaking has limits in a warming climate.

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Location: Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.
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Joined February 12, 2022