Seriously, a slight uptick in average temperatures is dooming what those weird Europeans call football
Football’s climate change threat: Flooded stadiums, too hot to train
“God blessed Fulham with great geography,” the Premier League club’s owner Shahid Khan said in 2021 as he discussed his vision for Craven Cottage’s new £80 million stand on the north bank of the River Thames.
Once it is finally completed next season, the Riverside Stand and its eye-catching Sky Deck will offer fans rooftop views of the London skyline and “experiential food and drink pop-ups.” Images of the lavish construction released by the club in March also depict a rooftop swimming pool. There is, though, one glaring issue with the development: the stadium is predicted to be underwater by 2050.
Fulham are by no means the only team predicted to suffer as sea levels rise in line with global temperatures because of climate change. Almost one in four stadiums in the top four divisions of English football will experience total or partial flooding within the next quarter of a century, according to the report “Playing Against the Clock: Global Sport, the Climate Emergency and the Case for Rapid Change,” published by the Rapid Transition Alliance in 2020.
Premier League clubs, despite their riches, will not be exempt, with the likes of Chelsea and West Ham United likely to face annual flooding, as will U.S. sports teams including the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Heat and New York Mets. The New York Giants and the New York Jets‘ MetLife Stadium is also predicted to be submerged every year.
For MetLife, this would require a minimum sea rise of 9 feet. Fulham would require almost 19 feet. I’m not going to bother with the others, it’s just the same old same old scaremongering, especially when talking about his happening by 2050. You can look at the topographic maps yourself, you know, actual facts and data, which the climate cult media never bothers with.