A research team from the National Institute for Environmental Studies and Waseda University has revealed that as climate change progresses, it will become difficult to carry out school sports club activities as usual, and measures such as introducing early morning practice sessions and reducing outdoor practice sessions will not be sufficient.
To date, there have been few studies that have focused on the impact of heat on school sports club activities. Therefore, the research team analyzed the impact of heat on outdoor sports club activities and the effectiveness of countermeasures, mainly based on predictions of the heat index (WBGT, unit °C) that takes into account humidity, radiant heat, and temperature under future climate change.
In the analysis, the impact of heat was evaluated based on the predicted hourly WBGT for 842 cities and the heat standards for carrying out activities, asking whether "outdoor activities can be carried out for two hours a day, five days a week, between 5pm and 1pm after school" ("Cease strenuous exercise" is heat standard 2, and "Cease all exercise" is heat standard 15). The effects of three countermeasures* were also analyzed.
As a result, the expected future impacts of heat on sports club activities will change significantly due to the progression of climate change, and there are large regional differences in the impacts. In particular, in warm regions, activity restrictions may extend for several months of the year, requiring major changes to annual schedules.
Additionally, in the most advanced climate change scenario, all of the measures were predicted to have a significant effect, with fewer areas with heat standard 1 and almost no areas with heat standard 2. However, because heat effects will remain, particularly in warm regions, and strenuous exercise will be restricted, it was thought that in a climate change situation where climate change has progressed, it would be difficult to continue sports club activities as usual with only the assumed measures.
As a result, while keeping a close eye on the progress of climate change, in addition to the measures envisaged this time, it will also be important to take fundamental measures such as changing the annual schedule of tournaments and practice sessions and improving indoor sports facilities.
*Measure A is to "add early morning (7am-9am) to the outdoor activity time slot," measure B is to "change outdoor activities for the two hot days of the week to indoor activities where air conditioning is available," and measure C is to "implement both A and B."
Paper information:【Environmental Research: Health】Heat impacts on school sports club activities in Japan under climate change and the effectiveness of countermeasures
