International Tourism and Effects on Climate Change - Case Study Example

Table of Contents Introduction 02 International Tourism and Effects on Climate Change 03 Environmental Changes 04 Impact on International Tourism 05 Conclusion 06 References 07 Introduction Tourism is considered to be one of the world’s largest, fastest growing and most climate dependent economic sectors. The researchers have considered tourism as a major contributor of climate change over the years with the increase in the number of international tourist and tourism. The effects could be considered cyclical in nature as climate change and tourism are inversely related to each other. In this project we study the impacts of tourism of the global climatic conditions, examples on how it has affected the environment and other factors and also how climate change has impacted the tourist health, comfort and also non-climatic tourism. The project highlights how the increasing tourism has directly and indirectly affected the living and natural conditions o the world and a strong presentation of the effects on the third world countries. International Tourism and effects on Climate Change Tourism has transformed from being a national activity to an increasing international process with people travelling all around the world more frequently. With the increase in the connection between different societies, environments and consumer cultures has resulted in increase in world tourism. This has also been helped by the ever developing strategy which has resulted in faster aircrafts and trains, rise in the wealth of individuals who have started affording more for international fares, with the increasing number of customers there has been a fall in prices, with social media and advertisement making the people more aware of the foreign destinations and offers, easy booking through internet and also the political changes all across the globe (Nicholls, 2003). Tourism has a broad composition of components that has lead to climate change to some extent; this has been in the form of heating, carbon dioxide emission, and excessive use of air-conditioning, rapid constructions and many more. Tourism is considered responsible for about 5% percent of the total global CO2 emissions. Climate change is a serious matter of concern and there is an immediate need for the development of alternate energy sources. But the common is least concerned about it and the habit has not changed and the sources lost are irrecoverable. The non-renewable sources of energy are dying out very fast and it will become very difficult to bring back the levels to a respectable one. Some of the factors of tourism that has affected the climate conditions are: Human Population: The human population has never before so well off and the inhabitants are getting used to the situations. Never did the humans have the ability to travel from continent to continent with such great ease. With increasing prosperity and the rate of invention the previous situations have changed and the human population have started touring much more. With the invention of the first man made flight to the art to breaking the sound barriers has brought a new wave of climatic problems (Hamilton, Maddison and Tol 2005). The Aircraft Industry: The aircraft industry is one of the leading causes of climate change and is also the largest contributor of green house gas emission. With such a staggering contribution to the total emission and every year witnessing a growth in it is a serious matter of concern. With new entrants into the aircraft industry and the growing competition the effect is further increasing. Also the competition provides a variety of choice for the customers with low possible rates and off season attractions which ultimately add up to the emission on CO2 gas thus harming the climate condition (Becken and Patterson, 2006). Increase in the Frequency of Travelling: With increase in the travel frequency the world is facing an issue of humongous proposition. Also the natural resources needed for the filling of this proposition is disappearing at an alarming rate which now the tourism and travel groups have started to cope up by putting pressure on the government and natural resource organisations. With the increase in travelling to third world countries has also resulted in the decease of already scarce natural resources like food, water and minerals. Dietary Preferences of Customers: The travelling people have brought their dietary preferences and customs to the countries they travel. With most of the travellers belonging to the first world countries, who are brought up on a staple diet of chicken, beef and other non vegetarian food, do not get such food in third world countries as it is not the staple food for such countries. This has encouraged previously vegetarian countries to offer such food which has got livestock farming out of control and thus contributing to green house gas emission (Volo, 2005). Contributes to the Garbage: The touring people contribute heavily to the garbage of the country consisting of mainly non recyclable items like electronics and plastic items. Only a few countries follow the regulations of disposal and most of the dangerous materials are dumped into the oceans or outsourced to third world countries which are need of dollars. So it is very obvious that growing tourism has a big contribution to the change in the climatic conditions globally. Environmental Changes Climate plays a pivotal role in planet’s environmental system and even the minute changes have affected the environment to a large extent. With experts already informing the world about the consequences of the climate changes well over a period of 30 years, the impacts are now clearly visible on the environment in the ways of, as follows: Impact on Water: With water being an essential component for the survival of generation of all species it has always been supplied through rivers, lakes, oceans and seas. They have also been the sources for agriculture and industry. Climate changes have had a major impact on the world’s water system resulting in floods and droughts. Also the scarcity of less fresh water or the danger of running out of it shall result in short supply of drinking water and decrease in agriculture, food and income (Alcamo, Florke and Marker, 2006). Impact on Forests: The world is quiet aware of the importance of forests for purifying air, improving water quality, provides food, wood products and medicines and also prevention of soil erosion. It also absorbs a massive amount of CO2 emitted in the atmosphere. But with the huge increase in deforestation due to need for proving pleasure in the tourism industry has lead to the increase in the CO2 content of the atmosphere and also causing natural calamities like landslides, etc. Impact on Food Security and Agriculture: Loss of livestock due to tourism has led into a situation of food insecurity. Also the changing weather has resulted in lesser rain due to seasonal shifts and this has directly affected the agriculture as many third world countries rely on rain for their agriculture. The growing change in climate with major effect from the tourism industry has resulted in the changes in the environment and living. Impacts on International Tourism With tourism being one of the constituents of climate change is not out of the impacts that the changes are having on other aspects of the world and its environment. Tourism being an important economic sector is intertwined with climate change (Ceron and Dubois, 2007). The changing climatic conditions have both direct and indirect effects on the tourism industry over the next ten years. Some of them are discussed below. i. Climate changes have resulted in global warming which is a direct threat to tourism. With tourism trying to popularise ecotourism for attracting visitors but the costs of such tourism is very high resulting in less number of visitors thus affecting tourism. ii. Weather and climate of a country is an important clause in deciding for a tourist choice and activities. With the destination choice being directly influenced by the climate the tourism of some places suffer intensely and a large part is considered as unseasonal (Amelung, Nicholls and Viner, 2007). iii. With CO2 emission being very high, different organisations and the government are imposing greater pressure on the airline companies to follow the rules and norms which has resulted in increase in the base fares of the tickets resulting in a de-growth to tourism. iv. With the snow of the mountains melting at a greater speed than usual the activities of winter tourism like snow spot tourism and event of ski have reduced and this has resulted in huge pressure only for a few months and the rest of the year being very slack. v. The rising sea levels is a serious concern for the costal tourism as there is huge demand amongst tourist for coastal areas for sunbathing, sandy beaches and activities of such sort. vi. The shortage of food and fresh drinking water shall add to the difficulties of experiencing tourism resulting in decline in international tourism. The effects of international tourism on climate conditions and that of the climate on tourism is a cyclical process which cannot be described as a direct blaming of one for the other. But it is the human beings who have taken tourism to a different level which has made tourism more responsible or the occurring climatic changes (Vavrus, Walsh, Chapman and Portis, 2006). Conclusion Tourism is a source of living for million all round the world and so it has rapidly increased in the recent past. With increasing tourism has increased the problem of global climate change which has directly or indirectly affected the living of every individual. The project has studied the impact of climate and tourism on one another and also on the environment. With the need of reducing the effects of international tourism on the global climate a situation of tourism crisis has taken place. References Alcamo, J., Florke, M. and Marker, M. 2006. “Changes in Global Water Resources Driven by Socio-Economic and Climatic Changes”. Center for Environmental Systems Research. University of Kassel, Germany. Amelung, B., Nicholls, S., & Viner, D. 2007. Implications of Global Climate Change for Tourism Flows and Seasonality. Journal of Travel Research, 45(3), 285-296. Becken, S. and Patterson, M. 2006. 'Measuring national carbon dioxide emissions from tourism as a key step towards achieving sustainable tourism', Journal of Sustainable Tourism 14, 323-338. Ceron, J.P. and Dubois, G. 2007. 'Limits to Tourism? A Backcasting Scenario for Sustainable Tourism Mobility in 2050', Routledge, pp. 191 - 209. Hamilton, J.M., Maddison, D.J. and Tol R.S.J. 2005. Climate change and international tourism: A simulation study‟. Global Environmental Change” 15:253-266. Nicholls, S. 2003. „Climate Change and Tourism‟. Annals of Tourism Research 31:238 240. Vavrus, S., Walsh, J.E., Chapman, W.L. and Portis, D. 2006. 'The behavior of extreme cold air outbreaks under greenhouse warming', International Journal of Climatology 26, 1133-1147. Volo, S. 2005, 'A consumer-based measurement of tourism innovation', Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism 6, 73-87. Read More