Golf Digest reported that “out of 1,168 courses less than two meters above sea level, more than half are vulnerable to disappearance by the end of this century.” President “Global warming is a Chinese hoax” Trump has famously decided to design a sea wall to protect his own golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland...
As for the players at the Australian Open, climate catastrophe has become a workplace safety issue. One player, Canadian Vasek Pospisil, said, “It’s time for a players’ union. This is getting absurd.” Imagine if the players went on strike to cancel the Australian Open in the name of their own health as well as in solidarity with those affected by the fires. Such actions, once unthinkable, might soon become a necessity.
The sports world has for too long had its head in the sand when it comes to our ongoing climate catastrophe. That neutrality will no longer suffice. It can either strive to be a part of the solution or it can be an instrument of distraction. If they choose the latter, the minders of our games will be obscuring the severity of the problem even as their own sports sink into the sea or simply burn.
