Impacts of climate change on organized sport : a scoping review

The relationship between sport and the environment has been primarily examined to understand how sport impacts the natural environment. However, as the influence of climate change has become more apparent, there is a need to establish a systematic understanding of the impacts of climate change on the operations of sport. The aim of this review is to take stock of existing literature on climate change's impacts on organized competitive sport entities, with further attention paid to their adaptation efforts. A scoping review was conducted to identify relevant studies published between 1995 and 2021. After evaluating more than 2100 publications, we retained 57 articles and analyzed them to answer the research questions: (1) What evidence is available regarding the impacts of climate change on the operation of organized competitive sport entities? (2) What is known from the literature about the measures taken by organized competitive sport entities to adapt to the impacts of climate change? Our analysis yielded five major themes: (1) Heat impacts on athlete and spectator health; (2) heat impacts on athlete performance; (3) adaptive measures taken in sport; (4) suitability of various cities for event hosting; and (5) benchmarking and boundary conditions. This review reveals that there is evidence of some climate change impacts on sport, but the literature reflects only a small share of the global sport sector. Equally, much remains to be understood about the nature of adaptation

Sources and characteristics of summertime organic aerosol in the Colorado Front Range: perspective from measurements and WRF-Chem modeling

Abstract. The evolution of organic aerosols (OAs) and their precursors in the boundary layer (BL) of the Colorado Front Range during the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment (FRAPPÉ, July–August 2014) was analyzed by in situ measurements and chemical transport modeling. Measurements indicated significant production of secondary OA (SOA), with enhancement ratio of OA with respect to carbon monoxide (CO) reaching 0.085±0.003 µg m−3 ppbv−1. At background mixing ratios of CO, up to  ∼  1.8 µg m−3 background OA was observed, suggesting significant non-combustion contribution to OA in the Front Range. The mean concentration of OA in plumes with a high influence of oil and natural gas (O&G) emissions was  ∼  40 % higher than in urban-influenced plumes. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) confirmed a dominant contribution of secondary, oxygenated OA (OOA) in the boundary layer instead of fresh, hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA). Combinations of primary OA (POA) volatility assumptions, aging of semi-volatile species, and different emission estimates from the O&G sector were used in the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) simulation scenarios. The assumption of semi-volatile POA resulted in greater than a factor of 10 lower POA concentrations compared to PMF-resolved HOA. Including top-down modified O&G emissions resulted in substantially better agreements in modeled ethane, toluene, hydroxyl radical, and ozone compared to measurements in the high-O&G-influenced plumes. By including emissions from the O&G sector using the top-down approach, it was estimated that the O&G sector contributed to  <  5 % of total OA, but up to 38 % of anthropogenic SOA (aSOA) in the region. The best agreement between the measured and simulated median OA was achieved by limiting the extent of biogenic hydrocarbon aging and consequently biogenic SOA (bSOA) production. Despite a lower production of bSOA in this scenario, contribution of bSOA to total SOA remained high at 40–54 %. Future studies aiming at a better emissions characterization of POA and intermediate-volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) from the O&G sector are valuable

Evaluation and Validation of a Real-Time PCR Assay for Detection and Quantitation of Human Adenovirus 14 from Clinical Samples

In 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that Human adenovirus type 14 (HAdV-14) infected 106 military personnel and was responsible for the death of one U.S. soldier at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Identification of the responsible adenovirus, which had not previously been seen in North America and for which rapid diagnostic tools were unavailable, required retrospective analysis at reference laboratories. Initial quarantine measures were also reliant on relatively slow traditional PCR analysis at other locations. To address this problem, we developed a real-time PCR assay that detects a 225 base pair sequence in the HAdV-14a hexon gene. Fifty-one oropharyngeal swab specimens from the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA and Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory, Lackland AFB, TX were used to validate the new assay. The described assay detected eight of eight and 19 of 19 confirmed HAdV-14a clinical isolates in two separate cohorts from respiratory disease outbreaks. The real-time PCR assay had a wide dynamic range, detecting from 102 to 107 copies of genomic DNA per reaction. The assay did not cross-react with other adenoviruses, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, or common respiratory tract bacteria. The described assay is easy to use, sensitive and specific for HAdV-14a in clinical throat swab specimens, and very rapid since turnaround time is less than four hours to obtain an answer

Home on the Range: Factors Explaining Partial Migration of African Buffalo in a Tropical Environment

Partial migration (when only some individuals in a population undertake seasonal migrations) is common in many species and geographical contexts. Despite the development of modern statistical methods for analyzing partial migration, there have been no studies on what influences partial migration in tropical environments. We present research on factors affecting partial migration in African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in northeastern Namibia. Our dataset is derived from 32 satellite tracking collars, spans 4 years and contains over 35,000 locations. We used remotely sensed data to quantify various factors that buffalo experience in the dry season when making decisions on whether and how far to migrate, including potential man-made and natural barriers, as well as spatial and temporal heterogeneity in environmental conditions. Using an information-theoretic, non-linear regression approach, our analyses showed that buffalo in this area can be divided into 4 migratory classes: migrants, non-migrants, dispersers, and a new class that we call “expanders”. Multimodel inference from least-squares regressions of wet season movements showed that environmental conditions (rainfall, fires, woodland cover, vegetation biomass), distance to the nearest barrier (river, fence, cultivated area) and social factors (age, size of herd at capture) were all important in explaining variation in migratory behaviour. The relative contributions of these variables to partial migration have not previously been assessed for ungulates in the tropics. Understanding the factors driving migratory decisions of wildlife will lead to better-informed conservation and land-use decisions in this area

Seasonal and Ontogenetic Changes in Movement Patterns of Sixgill Sharks

Understanding movement patterns is fundamental to population and conservation biology. The way an animal moves through its environment influences the dynamics of local populations and will determine how susceptible it is to natural or anthropogenic perturbations. It is of particular interest to understand the patterns of movement for species which are susceptible to human activities (e.g. fishing), or that exert a large influence on community structure, such as sharks.We monitored the patterns of movement of 34 sixgill sharks Hexanchus griseus using two large-scale acoustic arrays inside and outside Puget Sound, Washington, USA. Sixgill sharks were residents in Puget Sound for up to at least four years before making large movements out of the estuary. Within Puget Sound, sixgills inhabited sites for several weeks at a time and returned to the same sites annually. Across four years, sixgills had consistent seasonal movements in which they moved to the north from winter to spring and moved to the south from summer to fall. Just prior to leaving Puget Sound, sixgills altered their behavior and moved twice as fast among sites. Nineteen of the thirty-four sixgills were detected leaving Puget Sound for the outer coast. Three of these sharks returned to Puget Sound.For most large marine predators, we have a limited understanding of how they move through their environment, and this clouds our ability to successfully manage their populations and their communities. With detailed movement information, such as that being uncovered with acoustic monitoring, we can begin to quantify the spatial and temporal impacts of large predators within the framework of their ecosystems

Sustaining the race: a review of literature pertaining to the environmental sustainability of motorsport

This paper discusses motorsport from the viewpoint of environmental sustainability amid growing concerns about the impact of human activity on the environment. It reviews the literature that positions motorsport in a global environmental context and explores the often used but rarely defined concept of sustainability. The author suggests that while motorsport is a significant sporting activity for economic and social reasons, there are considerable doubts as to whether it is currently managed and marketed in an environmentally sustainable wa

Playing the Carbon Game: A Study of Climate Change Impacts and Responses at Organisations Managing Major Australian Sport Stadia

This study aimed to answer three research questions: (1) What, if any, issues are posed by the phenomenon of anthropogenic climate change for major Australian sport stadia (MASS) and the organisations that manage them?; (2) How are the organisations that manage major Australian sport stadia responding to climate change?, and; (3) Why are the organisations that manage major Australian sport stadia responding to climate change in the way they do? Although previous management and sport management research have examined a range of environmental and some climate change issues, there has not been a study of the implications of climate change for major sport stadia – or the organisations that manage them – in Australia, or overseas. Although some management studies have identified climate change specifically as an important problem, little attention has been paid to its physical impacts on sport, and none have considered potential impacts on major sport stadia, or the regulatory and commercial impacts on the organisations that manage them. Equally, few previous studies have examined how sport organisations interpret climate change, contribute to it by way of the direct or indirect generation of greenhouse gas emissions, or respond to its various impacts

Organizing Sport for Climate Related Adaptations: Lessons from the Water and Forestry Industries

Sporting societies around the world are being impacted by a variety of contemporary climatic challenges. The sport management literature indicates that these impacts have disrupted sport. Some adaptations have been implemented, but a comprehensive planning framework is absent from the literature. Learning from other industries, thus, was considered, and an examination of the literature from the water and forestry industries was conducted. The examination resulted in the discovery of six key themes offering insights or practical lessons to guide sport organizations in their efforts to organize for adapting to climatic impacts