Gallery: A Brief History of Olympic Environmental Disasters
Green Union01Mt Gariwang SK credit Green Union
Mount Gariwang is one of the Korean Peninsula’s largest and longest untouched expanses of wilderness. In 2013, the South Korean government lifted protections to build Olympic alpine ski courses on its sacred slopes.
Ed Chadwick02schinias beach credit Ed Chadwick
In 490, B.C., a Greek phalanx defeated a fleet of Persian invaders on Schinias Beach, in the Bay of Marathon. A fleet footed messenger ran the 26.2 miles to Athens to report the victory. Two and a half millennia later, the Greek government tried to build a rowing center there for the 2004 summer games, destroying ruins and wildlife habitat. One historian said of the travesty, “It’s like building a rowing center in Gettysburg.”
ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images03Heavy Smog Hits North China
The summer 2008 opening ceremony in Beijing wowed the world. But it wasn’t just fireworks that had people gasping freely. The city cut down on its notorious pollution for the games' duration---which later studies showed provided a boost to residents’ health. Once the games were over however, the city went right back to being one of the worst places on Earth for anything with lungs.
Olympic.org04Albertville 1992 Opening ceremony general views
In 1992, Albertville, France hosted the winter games, and Olympic-sized appetites brought bulldozers to many a pristine slope. The devastation prompted the IOC to sign a commitment requiring host countries to tread lightly on their paths to the Olympics.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images05One Year Out, Rio Continues Preparations For The 2016 Olympics
The city doesn’t so much treat its sewage as let it run unabated into Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, where in summer 2016 sailors, windsurfers, and rowers will compete. Training in the water has already made several competitors ill.
Transport Nexus06olympic-park-london-credit Transport Nexus
London beat out eight competitors for the 2012 summer games, in part because it promised to build its Olympic park with drastically reduced carbon emissions. Once the city won the bid, however, it burned fossil fuels like the year was [1952](http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/learn-about-the-weather/weather-phenomena/case-studies/great-smog).
wang jian j07guanting reservoir-Beijing, 2022 Winter-credit wang jian j
Beijing is currently bidding to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. The only problem is the mountains near the city don’t get a lot of precipitation (especially recently). The solution? Take water from the nearby Guanting Reservoir and make artificial snow...which will probably ruin farming in many nearby villages that rely on the reservoir for irrigation.
MIKHAIL MORDASOV/AFP/Getty Images08TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MARIA ANTONOVAL
For six years of leading up to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Russian construction crews dumped heaps of garbage on the town of Akhshtyr. Meanwhile, dust from construction ruined the village’s crops, and road construction destroyed its wells. These days, Akhshtyr gets its water delivered by truck.
