Only one of the previous 21 Winter Olympics host cities are deemed fit to stage the event in the future due to climate change, according to new research ©Getty Images

A study from researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada has deduced that failure to reduce global emissions may mean that only one of the previous 21 Winter Olympics host cities would be able to produce fair and safe conditions for future events.

The study, involving researchers from Canada, Austria and the United States, warned that climate change will limit where the Games can be held as winter changes across the Northern Hemisphere.

If the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement can be achieved, however, then the number of "climate-reliable" hosts would climb to eight, with only six considered unreliable.

The Paris Agreement's main objective is to keep a global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius this century.

Squaw Valley in the United States, Chamonix in France, the German town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and Russia's Sochi are already considered unreliable because of their relatively higher temperatures and the wet snow conditions this creates.

The study found that by the end of the 21st century, only Sapporo in Japan would be considered an appropriate host for the Games if emissions are not reduced.

"The world of winter sport is changing as climate change accelerates, and the international athletes and coaches we surveyed are witnessing the impacts at competition and training locations, including the Olympics," said Daniel Scott, a professor of geography and environmental management at Waterloo.

Only Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Games, has been labelled a
Only Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Games, has been labelled a "reliable" host for staging events at the end of the century ©Getty Images

According to the study, the average February daytime temperature of host cities has seen a steady increase.

February is typically when the Winter Games are staged.

Games held from the 1920s to 1950s averaged at 0.4 Celsius, while those from the 1960s to 1990s saw temperatures rise to 3.1°C.

Finally, Games in the 21st century, including Beijing 2022, which is due to open on February 4, recorded an average of 6.3°C.

"The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will have increasingly difficult decisions about where to award the Games, but the world’s best athletes, who have dedicated their lives to sports, deserve to have the Olympics located in places that can reliably deliver safe and fair competitions," said Siyao Ma of the University of Arkansas.

As a founding organisation of the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework, the IOC has made climate change a priority.

It has set a target of cutting emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and 30 per cent by 2024.

"No sport can escape the impacts of a changing climate," said Scott.

"Achieving the Paris Agreement targets is critical to save snow sports as we know it and ensure there are places across the world to host the Winter Olympics."