Source: Politics<\/p>\n
High-stakes geopolitics aren\u2019t the only external factor threatening to hijack the tournament.<\/p>\n
Perhaps ironically for a competition hosted by a U.S. president who is highly skeptical about climate change and says assertions about rising temperatures have been made \u201cby stupid people<\/a>,\u201d the heat is very likely to be a problem.<\/p>\n Heat waves have become a persistent part of Northern Hemisphere summers \u2014 each one made hotter, longer and more likely to occur as a result of man-made global warming. The locations of several stadiums across the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the peak-summer timing of the World Cup, are expected to put players and fans at risk of overheating.<\/p>\n The problem isn\u2019t just heat, but also humidity. The combination of the two feels far hotter and is measured with wet-bulb temperature, which mimics how the human body cools off through sweating. A wet-bulb temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit can be fatal even to healthy people; the football players\u2019 union FIFPRO says wet-bulb temperatures above 79 degrees \u2014 which can be reached through a combination of 86 degree heat and 50 percent humidity, for example \u2014 will affect performance and health, and 82 degree heat should prompt the postponement of a match.<\/p>\n When scientists last month ran the numbers<\/a>, they found that 26 of 104 matches are expected to take place in conditions of at least 79 degree wet-bulb temperature. Five matches are estimated to breach the 82 degree wet-bulb barrier. And a peer-reviewed study<\/a> found that during last year\u2019s FIFA Club World Cup in the U.S., average wet-bulb temperature exceeded 82 degrees in 31 of 57 matches analyzed by scientists.<\/p>\n That study also found that high temperatures were associated with players covering less ground, forcing a change of tactics. Exhaustion sets in faster under high temperatures \u2014 at the Club World Cup, 10 players asked to be substituted<\/a> in a single match. But heat doesn\u2019t just affect gameplay. At the 2024 Copa America, an assistant referee collapsed in the heat and, last month, two people died<\/a> during sports events held amid a heat wave in France.<\/p>\n As climate change continues to heat the planet, FIFA will have to grapple with the growing threat at every subsequent tournament. The 2030 men\u2019s World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco takes place in a global warming hotspot. The women\u2019s World Cup next year will be in Brazil during a warming El Ni\u00f1o event, expected to supercharge the heating effect of climate change.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s not even counting the other growing climate risks \u2014 from wildfire smoke to extreme rain \u2014 that threaten to disrupt future events.<\/p>\n