Olympics Opening Ceremony Goes for Gold on Climate

The Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympics Games highlighted the threats of climate change to nearly 3.3 billion viewers, earning high praise from the climate community worldwide.

https://twitter.com/ClimateHour/statuses/762641331109793792

A video, narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Judi Dench, explained the spike in the Earth’s temperature and the effects of climate change around the world such as rapid ice melt and sea level rise.

Wow. What a beautiful, moving focus on #climate at the #OpeningCeremony of #RioOlympics2016. All nations together, our fates intertwined. ❤️

— Mary Anne Hitt (@maryannehitt) August 6, 2016

A new report from a Brazilian civil society group has found that rising temperatures due to climate change could severely affect the performance of athletes despite the games being held during Brazil’s winter.

Americans watching the climate change segment of #Rio2016 ceremony are reminded that in most of the world this is not controversial.

— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) August 6, 2016

News: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Hollywood Reporter, Guardian, Metro, Huffington Post, The Hill, Grist, Sydney Morning Herald

Commentary: LA Times, Charles McNulty column; Forbes, Marshall Shepherd op-ed; BusinessGreen, James Murray column; Sydney Morning Herald, multiple author letters

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