Thanks to climate change, Qatar’s winter World Cup could become the new normal | Quartz

After four weeks of fanfare, the 2018 World Cup has come to a close. France’s victory in Sunday’s final marked the end of a summer filled with thrilling victories, surprise defeats, national pride (and disappointment), penalty kick-induced panic and many other emotions associated with soccer.

Fans, unfortunately, will have to wait longer than usual to experience it all over again. That’s because the next FIFA World Cup in 2022 will be held in winter, not summer, due to the sweltering climate of the next host country, Qatar.

Located on the Persian Gulf, Qatar sees an average high temperature of 108F in the summer, and temperatures close to 123F have been recorded in the capital Doha. For a sport that requires players to run continually for 90 minutes, this poses a huge health hazard. And even without the physical strain of playing soccer at the highest level, extreme heat threatens significant health problems, including dehydration, exhaustion and stroke.

Past sporting events demonstrate the danger of extreme heat. The 2014 Australian Open continued play through temperatures of 108F, which caused the Canada’s Frank Dancevic to grow faint and hallucinate, seeing the cartoon character Snoopy. Dancevic later said that it was “inhumane” to make competitors play tennis in that heat.

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