Last week, Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev faced heat, humidity, and Andrey Rublev at the US Open in New York. The move came just a week after some races at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest were rescheduled due to safety concerns.

Global climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme temperatures across the globe, so these kinds of impacts are becoming a reality for sports.

An expanded tournament with 48 teams playing 104 matches across Canada, the United States and Mexico will culminate in the 2026 men’s World Cup final in less than three years.

In order to protect players and fans, the previous edition, held in Qatar in 2022, was moved from June and July, when temperatures regularly exceed 40C and can reach 50C.

Fifa may face another challenge after a record-breaking summer of extreme heat and wildfire air pollution – 96% of the US population (318 million people) experienced an extreme heat alert, 175 cities experienced extreme heat at least for a week, and 45 cities experienced unusually high temperatures for more than half of their summer days.

There is no doubt that some of the world’s leading sport scientists believe this.