Inernational Tourism and Climate Change - Term Paper Example

INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AND CLIMATE CHANGE Name Course Tutor Date Executive Summary This report aims at looking at the contribution of international tourism to climate change as well as how the climate change has affected tourism. The first section introduces the report giving an overview of the key points entailed therein. The second section then explores the impacts of tourism on climate change. The next section looks at the environmental change that has resulted from tourism. The next section then explores the effect climate change has had on tourism. The last section then concludes the report. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Impacts of Tourism on Climate Change 4 Environmental Change due to Tourism 6 Effects of Climate Change on Tourism 6 Conclusion 7 Introduction The tourism industry’s contribution to the global economy is substantial. There has been a dynamic increase in the number of international travels to tourism due to the increase in the level of technology as well as globalization. Climate change and tourism can be looked at in two ways. First off, tourism contributes to climate change through emission of greenhouse gases. Secondly, climate change also has the capability to affect the tourism industry. Tourist therefore is a climate sensitive sector of the global economy (Holden & Fennell, 2013). The sun and sea or winter sport vacations heavily rely on favorable temperatures. Additionally, the environment that is a greater resource for the industry also depends on the environment .The amount of CO2 as well as other greenhouse gases (GHG) has been approximated to be 5% annually (Holden & Fennell, 2013). The emissions are released from transport, human activities in the industry, and accommodation, all at different rates and percentages. A number of policy makers have been on the move to make policies that are geared towards the development of sustainable tourism so as to cushion the environment from climate change. This report explores the contribution of international tourism to environmental change and also looks at the effects of climate change on international tourism by the end of the next ten years. Impacts of Tourism on Climate Change Most environmental lobbyist have emphasized that international tourism industry has had a significant impact on the environment. The most significant argument has been that some activities within the industry release greenhouse gases such as CO2 (Hall, Scott, & Gössling, 2013). Reddy & Wilkes (2013, note that, the tourism industry through its associated anthropogenic activities releases about 5% of all the greenhouse gas emissions on the earth surface. The transport sector has been the most contributor of greenhouse gas release (Conrad & Buck, 2012). Sector wise, the aviation industry leads in emissions accounting for 40% of all the greenhouse gases from the tourism industry (Hall, Scott, & Gössling, 2013). This is closely followed by car transport that is responsible for the 32% of the emissions (Hall et al., 2013). Accommodation services and facilities further contribute 21% of greenhouse gases. Lastly, other activities within the industry also account for 7% of all the emissions (Conrad & Buck, 2012). Consequently, it is agreeable that the tourism industry contributes negatively to the environmental change. The aviation industry is the major contributor of greenhouse gas emission. There has been the need to transport people from one place to various destinations on earth. Air transport being the most efficient and faster form of transport, it is preferred by most people (Reddy & Wilkes, 2013). This has led to the increase in the amount of greenhouse gas that is released into the atmosphere. Nitrogen oxides and CO2 are the most released greenhouse gases (Reddy & Wilkes, 2013). The contribution of the aviation industry is estimated through radiative forcing that measures the extent to which the emission of greenhouse gases cause the increase in global average temperature in a given period of time (Holden & Fennell, 2013). Tourism industry is a continuous industry that experiences flow of visitors across the year, the number of trips made in a normal day internationally are very many. International air travel dependent on tourism releases 16% of all the aviation emissions. Most restaurants that accommodate the tourists also have a significant contribution to climate change in various ways. Heating, cooling and washing involve the use of machines that release carbon dioxide. In cooking there is the use of natural gas in the form of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) that further causes the increase in the amount of CO2 into the atmosphere (Conrad & Buck, 2012). Additionally, the tourism industry also uses refrigerators, air conditioners and propellants that have ozone depleting substances (Reddy & Wilkes, 2013). Some of the human activities such as development of real estates, construction of infrastructure, and other development activities also increase the amount of carbon footprint in the atmosphere (Hall et al., 2013). The electronics that are being used in the accommodation facilities also increase the amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Through the seas and land transport, the levels of CO2 have significantly increased (Reddy & Wilkes, 2013). Most of the vehicles used in the tourism industry are heavy consumers of oil and thus release fumes laden with greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (Holden & Fennell, 2013). The gases find their way into the atmosphere and end up suspended into the atmosphere for a long period of time. Environmental Change due to Tourism The above identified contributions have contributed to climate change that has resultantly caused a change in the environment. The increased levels of CO2 cause the depletion of the atmosphere that protects earth by absorbing harmful radiation, which in high doses is dangerous to both humans and animals. There has consequently been the increase in the environmental change (Holden & Fennell, 2013). This has largely been contributed by global warming resulting from the depletion of the ozone layer. There has been increase in the global average temperatures. Consequently, the ice-capped mountains have melted leading to the increase in the sea levels (Hall et al., 2013). There has also been the loss of biodiversity as a result of shifting seasons and climate change (Holden & Fennell, 2013). The ecological niches previously habited by species have been degraded thus the extinction of some species (Schott, 2010). There has also been the increase in the amount of evaporations and thus drought like conditions affecting the atmosphere. This has led to the clearing away of forests that act like carbon sinks. Additionally, there has been submergence of coastal plains as well as erosion of the coastal regions this will increase the costs of insurance premiums (Holden & Fennell, 2013). The changes in the terrestrial and marine biodiversity causes the loss of aesthetic landscape that attracts tourism as this increases in the next decade and beyond will reduce the number of tourists. Effects of Climate Change on Tourism In much similar way as any other sector, the tourism sector is greatly affected by temperature. The impacts can either be direct or indirect depending on the point of view. The increase in temperature in the next decade and beyond is likely to increase to uncontainable levels. This has altered the seasonality of tourism as a result of shifting seasons (Schott, 2010). Additionally, there has been an increase in the operational costs due to the need of artificial snowmaking and cooling. With the increase in temperature the distribution of organisms has also been affected and infectious disease ranges increased (Jones & Phillips, 2011). This is likely to affect tourism since the tourists are likely to shift their destinations. There has also been a decrease in the snow covers thus affecting winter sport destinations and increased costs of operations as well (Schott, 2010). The number of storms is likely to destroy the facilities in the coastal tourist destination, these results from the increase in precipitation and increased evaporation rate. The ancient structures located in the areas near the beach area are likely to be broken down (Jones & Phillips, 2011). This is likely to reduce the number of tourists that visit the places to enjoy the beauty and the prestige of such structures. The rise in the level of sea has been associated with the submergence of coasts that are major attraction of tourists (Jones & Phillips, 2011). This increases the amount spent in the maintenance of waterfronts. Additionally, some of the resources that are located at the coast are flooded and submerged reducing the significance to tourism. Since climate change affects different regions differently, it is likely to be advantageous to one region and of negative effect on the other (Schott, 2010). This reduces the competitive ability of some of the tourism destinations. Climate change also affects other sectors that tourism industry is dependent on such as the transport and agriculture this will greatly hamper the sustainability of the industry in the next decade (Schott, 2010). The return on investment in the tourism industry is likely to reduce should there be an increase in the effects of climate change and the destruction of structures that are essential for the industry. Conclusion The international tourism industry has had a traceable contribution to environmental change especially through climate change as can be seen in the report. The most significant contribution has been through the release of CO2 from a variety of activities such as transport and accommodation among others. Air transport has been the core contributor of greenhouse gas emission, followed by the car transport industry and then lastly the accommodation services and other activities. In sum, the total CO2 emission from the tourism industry is 5% of all the CO2 gases in the atmosphere annually. As identified in the paper, the environmental change that has resulted is the depletion of the ozone layer and consequent increase in temperatures. Tourism has also experienced impacts that are negative in nature. Some of the impacts include destruction of structures, shifting of the seasons, storms, heat waves and increase of diseases. These impacts affect the choice of tourism destination and resulted in the shift of sea and sun tourism to sports event tourism that is less dependent on climate. Bibliography Conrad, R., & Buck, M. 2012, “Trends and issues in global tourism 2012”. Berlin: Springer. Hall, C. M., Scott, D., & Gössling, S. 2013, “The Primacy of Climate Change for Sustainable International Tourism”. Sustainable Development, 21(2), 112-121. Holden, A., & Fennell, D. A. 2013, “The Routledge handbook of tourism and the environment”. New York: Routledge. Jones, A. L., & Phillips, M. R. 2011, “Disappearing destinations: Climate change and future challenges for coastal tourism”. Wallingford, Oxfordshire: CABI. Reddy, M. V., & Wilkes, K. 2013, “Tourism, climate change and sustainability”. New York: Routledge. Schott, C. (2010). “Tourism and the implications of climate change: Issues and actions”. Bingley, U.K: Emerald. Read More