if a headline like that unnerves you, well, just wait. because as "the new york times" put it, china did not move mountains to host the 2022 winter olympic games, but it did flood a dry river bed, diverted water from a key reservoir that supplies beijing, and resettled hundreds of farmers and their families, all to feed one of the most extensive snow-making operations in the history of the games. now, this was a monumental project, one that was incredibly resource intensive. the international olympic committee estimates that some 49 million gallons of water were needed to cover the entire competition area. to put that in perspective, that's enough water to fill 74 olympic-sized swimming pools. then you have to consider all of the energy that goes into operating around the clock hundreds and hundreds of snow generators and snowmaking guns. it's an ecological travesty.