The Olympics are nearly over, and this 2024 Olympic season has been one with many twists and turns and significant controversies. However, perhaps the most disturbing elements of the 2024 Paris Olympics have been the quality of the weather, air, and water within the city, commonly known for its natural beauty.
The Seine River's Troubled Waters
The issues began with the Seine River and its use for water sports at the Olympics despite significant concerns about its quality and safety. The Seine—one of the world’s most iconic rivers—which stretches for 481 miles, has been ‘cleaning up its act’ for the last year not only in preparation for the Olympics but also to inevitably allow Parisians to swim within the river once again after over a century (1923 is when the Seine River was first shut down to swimmers due to immense pollution). The costly €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) project is one that the local government of France is confident will succeed by next Spring. In fact, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in the River Seine on July 17 to prove to those concerned about the river’s safety that it was clean enough to hold Olympic swimming events.
However, despite these efforts, the results of the first Olympic swimming events have led to even more doubt from spectators, athletes, and viewers worldwide. After one event, Canadian Triathlete Tyler Mislawchuck reportedly threw up ten times from his swim in the Seine and claimed it was the poor water quality that caused this. Meanwhile, A Belgian relay team forfeited after their teammate fell ill from what was purported to be E. Coli poisoning after swimming in the Seine River. This news is rather unsurprising considering the fact that the river tested positive for E. Coli 10 times above the acceptable limit just one month out from the 2024 Summer Olympics.
On top of the quality, several athletes were concerned about the pollution and other objects within the water itself. 30-year-old Jolien Vermeylen, who represented Belgium in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, spoke to Flemish television outlet VTM, “While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much," Vermeylen told VTM. "I took pro-biotics, I drank my Yakult, I couldn’t do more. I had the idea of not drinking water, but yes, it failed." The athlete even went as far as to criticize the officials who deemed the river safe in the first place, stating, “The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority. That’s bulls***!”
According to these same officials, the water quality fluctuates daily, partly due to the rainfall in the city and the contaminants that are washed into the river from the downpours. Sewage, waste, chemicals, and even rat droppings from the city’s active rat population all flow into the river from rainwater. While dams are underway to hold back polluted rainwater in the future, there is still no failproof solution to prevent these contaminants when heavy rain occurs entirely.
As Paris Deputy Mayor Pierre Rabadan said, “We'll never keep rain events from having an impact on the water quality. That's not possible. What we've done will allow us to return to a water quality that is satisfactory and good, like it was for the triathlon.”
The Unpredictable Climate of the 2024 Olympics
As we examine the effect that torrential rain has had on the Seine, it is important to consider the weather overall during this Olympics season. From downpours and lightning storms to heat waves and air quality alerts, there is no denying the significant impact that weather fluctuations caused by climate change have had on the events.
Beginning with the rainfall, the opening ceremonies experienced torrential downpours that left many concerned about the water quality of the Seine and the safety of the athletes. With more than 300,000 spectators at the opening ceremonies along the river, while the energy remained lively, many headed for cover under trees and in buildings as the drizzles turned to a full-fledged rainstorm in minutes. This is uncharacteristic weather even for the rainy city of Paris, according to officials, and many are convinced that the rain has to do with the city’s air pollution and how it has affected the climate over the last few decades alone.
Thus far, the men's skiff medal race was abandoned due to lack of wind, the first round of men's golf play has been delayed again due to thunderstorms and lightning weather conditions, the surfing competitions have been severely affected by tides, heat, and lack of wind, and both tennis and archery have been postponed due to weather upsets as well. Meanwhile, runners, triathletes, volleyball players, and other outdoor Olympians have also issued their concerns with the heat, lack of airflow, and lack of air conditioning in the city.
In a recently published report, multiple climate advocacy and sporting groups from the UK and the US highlighted the concerns of 11 athletes about the conditions anticipated at the upcoming Olympic Games and the broader implications for sports events in an increasingly warm climate.
According to the report, the average temperatures in Paris during late July and early August, when the Olympics will take place, are now over 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they were in 1924, the last time Paris hosted the Games. Jamie Farndale with Great Britain’s Olympic rugby sevens team, one of the 11 athletes, explained how these temperatures could push athletes into unsafe and even deadly positions: “When things get unsafe in the sort of 30-, 35-degree temperatures [86 to 89 degrees Fahrenheit], yeah, it becomes pretty dangerous. We play six games over three days, and you can’t just cool down in between. We’re jumping in ice baths. We’re doing everything we can, but your core temperature just doesn’t drop. You feel sick.”
These numbers are no surprise, as Paris has faced heat waves during the Summer season for decades now. In fact, in 2003, a heat wave led to 15,000 excess deaths in France. According to Sorbonne Universite, these temperatures, paired with the rainfall, could even mean wet bulb temperature warnings and their effects seen by the entire world. “Our past research has made it possible to map the regions of the world considered at risk from the dangerous temperature-humidity combination. But it is also a point of attention in our current research as part of the preparation for the Olympic Games…July is the hottest month of the year in Île-de-France. If the heat is exacerbated by stormy weather and/or high humidity, external conditions will be unbearable for competition.”
However, Sorbonne is not the only group speaking out about the weather and how climate change directly correlates with these numbers in Paris. “Yesterday, climate change crashed the Olympics,” said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London who co-founded World Weather Attribution, which seeks to determine whether rising global temperatures are causing extreme weather conditions.
“If the atmosphere weren’t overloaded with emissions from burning fossil fuel, Paris would have been about 3°C cooler and much safer for sport,” Otto added. In a recent analysis by Otto and his peers, it was stated, “The extreme temperatures reached in July would have been virtually impossible if humans had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels.”
Wet bulb temperature risk map for the United States shows how the South is at serious risk even now.How Does the Olympics Affect the Drilling Industry?
While athletes spend their days training for heat acclimation, weather fluctuations, humidity, and altitude shifts, the boots-on-the-ground drillers are not nearly as lucky. Drillers do not have the nutritionists, sports scientists, trainers, and gear designed for temperatures that fall into these dangerous zones. And yet, even these tested and well-equipped athletes find it difficult, if not impossible, to perform labor even for a few hours a day in these conditions. So what does this mean for the hardworking outdoor laborers and their leaders in a country already seeing wet bulb temperatures and severe weather alerts every month?
In America, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee have experienced wet bulb temperatures multiple times in the last few years alone. Meanwhile, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas are under “extreme threat.” According to current heat and humidity maps, the southern US is all at risk, and no hydration, shade, or AC can prevent heat-related illness and death at these temperature and humidity levels.
Meanwhile, water quality remains a major concern for America as well. While the world’s eyes are set on the Seine River, about half of the river and stream miles and lake acres across the U.S. are too polluted for swimming, fishing, or drinking. A look at America’s most endangered rivers puts the dire need for water conservation in the US into perspective.
Furthermore, while they are topics we often cover at The Driller already, it’s crucial that PFAS, water scarcity, and groundwater conservation are continuously highlighted as they serve as some of the most impactful crises our nation is facing in 2024 and beyond.
This affects not only our rivers and groundwater sources but also our drinking water, directly correlating to poorer health and shortened lifespans as a nation. For water well drilling, these crises pose a severe threat not only to the communities they serve but also to the industry's resiliency as a whole.
Between extreme heat, humidity, droughts, floods, tornados, hurricanes, water scarcity, pollution, and pandemics, the safety of the industry is put to the ultimate test every year. What once was considered an unexpected disaster is now considered a standard part of the job. And while OSHA continues to advocate for worker safety and the EPA advocates for environmental protections, certain leaders remain steadfast in disbanding these crucial organizations and reallocating their funds to projects that don’t benefit the working class or the communities they represent.
Citius, Altius, Fortius
While the 2024 Paris Olympics made history with an innumerable set of events, perhaps the most significant aspect of these games has been their ability to raise awareness of the seriousness of the climate change crisis and its impact on the world as a whole.
While it will most certainly not just affect the drilling industry, if it raises the right questions and concerns, it may be able to impress upon the populace the importance of safety standards, worker and environmental protections, and laws and practices that prevent further damage to our world and the communities within it.
