How the climate of Paris has changed since it last hosted the Summer Games - WREX.com

How the climate of Paris has changed since it last hosted the Summer Games | Climate Conversations | wrex.com

100 years have past since the last time Paris hosted the Olympic Games, and its climate has warmed plenty.

Here's how summers typically are in Paris: an average high of 78 degrees in early August, with lows in the low 60s. The summer months usually see a little over 2 inches of rainfall on average.

While the average summer weather is pretty comfortable in northern France, the city isn’t immune to intense heat. 50 heat waves have occurred since the 1940s, with the worst coming in 2003. Nearly 15,000 people died from heat-related illnesses. Heat waves are becoming more likely to occur with our warming climate.

According to Climate Central, Paris is 5 degrees warmer than when the city last hosted the games a century ago. Scorching days above 86 degrees occur 3 times more often, and hot nights occur 20 times more often.

The Paris games have seen several days in the upper 80s to upper 90s during the competitions.

This leads to heat risks for athletes, spectators, and workers alike. The last Summer Games in Tokyo ended up being the hottest on record, with conditions becoming dangerous for athletes at times. Hopefully conditions cool off for the rest of the Summer Games, but these heat related dangers are becoming more common with each summer moving forward.