Hello!
I’ve got some exciting news for you in today’s newsletter.
I am pleased to announce the launch of the Reuters Climate Monitor.
What is it? It’s a simple but powerful tool, created by our News Application Editor Ben Welsh, that brings immediate climate context to daily weather events around the world.
The monitor sets today’s temperatures against a historical baseline from 1961 to 1990, allowing people to see at a glance whether conditions are running hotter or colder than what was once considered normal.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the tool. So, send me your feedback, what you learned, what surprised you and any interesting insights you have. I’m all ears!
* Climate Monitor and the World Cup
While conditions for individual matches cannot be predicted this far ahead, sports scientists say there are clear weather-related risks facing a summer World Cup spanning Canada, Mexico and the United States.
I wanted to play around with the monitoring tool to find out the weather during today’s World Cup kick-off.
The average high worldwide is forecast to be 18.4 degrees Celsius (65.2 degrees Fahrenheit), which is 1.0 C above the normal high for June 11 from 1961 to 1990.
The first game is in Mexico City, Mexico, between the host country and South Africa. Today’s temperature in Mexico City is 2.6 C lower than previous years.
However, seasonal forecasts indicate above-normal temperatures across large parts of the United States, while moisture flowing north from the Gulf of Mexico could fuel thunderstorms and severe weather during the opening weeks of the tournament.
For example, in Los Angeles, California, the Reuters Climate Monitor shows that today is 3.3 C higher than previous years.
* Players’ wellbeing
Now we’ve got a bit of context of the weather before the games, I wanted to turn our attention to how this might affect the players.
Chris Minson, a physiology professor and co-director of the Exercise and Environmental Physiology Labs at the University of Oregon, said elite players generate enormous internal heat even before the weather is considered.
"Seventy-five percent of all the energy that we utilize during exercise gets converted to heat," Minson told Reuters. "Only about 25% goes to actually doing the exercise."
In hot, sunny or humid conditions, the body's normal cooling system begins to struggle. Humidity is a particular concern, since sweat cools the body only when it evaporates.
Climate change has increased the likelihood of temperatures high enough to affect player performance at 97 of the 104 tournament matches, according to new research from Climate Central.
Ryan Calsbeek, a biological sciences professor at Dartmouth College who studies how body type affects athletic performance in different climates, said heat and humidity could influence not only player welfare but also the pace and style of matches.
"Higher temperature, higher humidity is likely to slow games down," he said.
"When athletes have to perform for a very long time, they're just not going to be able to balance the explosive power of their fast-twitch efforts with the more aerobic long-term efforts of a 90-plus-minute game in the heat and humidity."
FIFA has said every match at the World Cup will include a three-minute hydration break in each half, while scheduling decisions have taken into account factors including average temperatures, travel, rest days, medical planning and cooling infrastructure.
* Talking Points
* In Conversation
Sadaf Shah, operations director at U.S.-based climate tech firm M2D, shares his thoughts on extreme heat affecting the World Cup:
“Hosting matches in extreme summer heat across three countries creates very real risks for players pushing their bodies to the limit, for fans in stadiums with limited shade and, as we've seen, no reusable water bottles.
“These aren't minor logistical oversights. They reflect a deeper failure to plan for the climate conditions we're actually living in.
“The social impact is just as significant. Host communities bear the brunt of the carbon footprint of the flights, the infrastructure, and the energy demands of running 16 stadiums simultaneously, while having limited say in how that impact is managed or offset.
“Sustainability can't just be a headline commitment; it has to show up in the decisions that actually affect people.
“The tools exist for measuring emissions, identifying reduction opportunities, and building credible offset strategies. What this tournament is missing is the accountability to use them.”
Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also subscribe here.
