Olympians are using the warm temperatures in Sochi, which usually has balmy temperatures during the winter due to its southern location, to call for action on climate change from global leaders. They are politicizing the Olympics to ask world leaders to reduce emissions and work toward “a compact for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris 2015.”
As UPI noted, in a “letter published today on Protect Our Winters, U.S. cross country skier Andrew Newell penned a letter demanding stronger action on climate change from world leaders.”
“The continued loss of snow is only the beginning,” Newell writes. “And unless changes can be made at a federal level, it will be more than our skiing that’s at stake.”
He was joined by “105 Olympians, including athletes from the United States, Switzerland, Norway, Estonia, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy and Sweden,” who signed the letter with him.
“I’m not an environmental science major, I’m not a scientist, in fact I didn’t even go to college,” Newell said, “but just like most Americans, I know that as the snow dwindles so does our water supply, our food, our health and our economy.”
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