A report ahead of the Beijing Olympics, due to start in just over a week, raises concerns about the excessive use of artificially produced snow.

Researchers from Loughborough University in England say the Games in China will be the first to use almost entirely fake snow, which they say is bad for the environment

The process is energy and water intensive.

The BBC's Alex Capstick explains.

[Reporter]
Hardly any of the snow that covers the mountain venues to the north of Beijing is real.

The region is arid, so giant machines have been working hard to create the right conditions for the ski and snowboarding events to take place.

The authors of a new report titled "Slippery Slopes" warned that climate change means that man-made snow, which is bad for the environment, could become the norm.

They warn that as the planet warms up, the colder seasons will continue to get shorter and more erratic until eventually even artificial solutions will not be enough to guarantee the future of winter sports.