PARIS, France — Paris, France hosted the Olympic games in 1924. Since then, days and nights have warmed substantially, putting athletes, officials and spectators at a higher risk.
Climate change has become a big topic this year because of the notable warming already during some of the hottest days of the year.
Since 1924, the average temperature in Paris between July 26 and August 11, which is the duration of the games, has gone up 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit, according to data from Climate Central.
When looking at climate data from 100 years ago, it's important to have specific numbers to compare. In this case, Climate Central looked at sweltering nights where low temperatures were at or above 68 degrees. They also looked at scorched days where high temperature were at or above 86 degrees.
Sweltering nights are twenty times more frequent now, the data shows. In 2023, there were 84 sweltering nights compared to only four back in 1924.
Reduced cooling at night can be tied to less sleep, prolonged heat stress, and other health risks. This is largely due to your body never fully recovering from the heat of the day.
Scorching days are three times more frequent now too. In 2023, there were 188 scorching days compared to 69 back in 1924.
This also doesn't take into account humidity, which puts additional stress on the human body because it hinders natural sweating mechanisms.
Athletes face especially high impacts from heat-related illness because the body produces 15 to 20 times more heat while exercising.
The Tokyo Olympics was the hottest Olympic Games in history. Extreme heat and humidity led to 146 reported cases of heat-related illness among Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
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