International Tourism and Environmental Change - Essay Example

INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE By (Name) Course: Professor: Institution: Date: Executive Summary This report analyzes international tourism and its widespread impact on the climate change. It expounds on the environmental changes that are largely triggered by the international tourism. It also shows that the impact on climate is fueled by the emissions released by automobiles that are used to transport the tourists from their home areas to their destinations. The international industries usually use air transport because of the distance problems. The more there is usage of airplanes the more the damage caused to the environment hence climatic change. There are also extensive tourists’ activities that contribute to climate change as will be seen in this article. It also shows various pictures that elaborate the extend of environmental degradation caused by various human activities. It analyzes in depth the issues relating to climate change. There are also elaborations of natural disasters that are associated with climate change. The climate change is seen to impact on the international tourism. This is projected in this article to rise in the future hence leading to a rather steep decline in international tourists’ activities. Contents Executive Summary 2 Contents 3 Introduction 4 Contribution of international tourism on climate change 4 Deforestation and greenhouse gases 5 Other environmental changes triggered by tourism 5 Sound pollution 5 Global warming 6 Impact of climatic issues on international tourism in the next 10 years 7 Tourists decline in number 7 Associated Natural Disasters 7 Animal Migration 8 Conclusion 8 References 9 Appendixes 10 Introduction International tourism is known to be the movement of people from their native countries to other countries or regions for the sake of exploring new environments. It may also be for the sake of various business trips. International tourism has been known to affect the environment in different ways. On the other hand, environmental change has also had a hand in influencing international tourism. Environmental change is the alteration or the disturbance on the state of the surrounding which ultimately affect the ecosystem at large (Goeldner et al 2009). This essay explains such interactions in details and their effect on environment and climate change. Contribution of international tourism on climate change International tourism has been a growing concern in the way it has been known to impact on climate change. This is through its spontaneous activities. It has impacted on the land cover and also the ecosystem. One of the ways is through the urge of building accommodation structures. These structures are in the form of hotel rooms, vacation homes, motels, hotels, bungalows and also villages. Over the years, they have been known to be on the rise in order to accommodate the growing number of international tourists (Sidle & Ochiai 2006). These accommodation structures have taken up a large area of the lands especially in the areas that harbor tourism. Many researchers have indicated the rise. The Gossling report of 2002 indicated that the area in Tanzania, that is, Kiwengwa in Unguja Island had a number of resorts totaling up to around 0.3% of the terrestrial. This shows that land has to be cleared extensively for the construction of these structures (Tamiotti 2009). Deforestation and greenhouse gases The accommodation structures lead to deforestation. This is due to intense cutting of trees. There has been overuse of land due to these various activities (Goeldner et al 2009). This may also be contributed by construction of roads to channel the tourists to the resort centers and also to the tourists’ attraction areas. There have been reported cases of drained wetlands due to lack of other sites for construction of the structures. Furthermore, the activities will play a big role on the disturbance directed to the local ecosystem and also long-term destruction if not controlled. This cutting down of trees has also resulted to widespread desertification hence leading to hostility to lives of many people and also wildlife. The picture in appendix 01, was once taken in a game reserve in the East African country (Sidle & Ochiai 2006). These are the effects of cutting down of trees hence desertification. This place has been hardly habitable by wildlife and also human beings because of lack of food and water for sustenance. International tourism has also played a major role in air pollution and also noise pollution. All the means of transport used by tourists include air transport, road and even rail transport. The usage of these kinds of transportation has increased in recent past due to increase in international tourists. Those international tourists travel by air has been estimated to account for around 60% of all the air transportation. Planes are known to emit Green House Gases (GHG) (Hamilton et al 2005). These gases include carbon dioxide and also Nitrogen oxide gases. These gas emissions are known to have the capacity of causing acid rain, photochemical pollution and also global warming. This air pollution resulting from tourist activities is also evident in cold countries where motors in travelling buses are left running for long to allow adequate hair conditioning when the tourists embark on excursions. The picture appendix 02, shows a release of exhaust from a car. These kinds of cars have been on rise currently partly through international tourists activities. This is an example of air pollution. Other environmental changes triggered by tourism Sound pollution The planes and cars used by tourists also contribute large to sound pollution. This is because of the sounds that they emit. They are not health for mankind and may also lead to crack on walls. It causes distress to animals especially wildlife. Human beings may also lose their hearing courtesy of the loud sounds. The irritating sounds from snowmobiles have been known to cause alteration in the activities of animals in cold zones (Bates et al 2008). They may also cause migration of these animals to deep places that are inaccessible to the tourists. Sewage system may also be overworked as a result of hotels and other accommodation structures. The release of this sewage to water bodies may extensively cause the damage on the flora and also fauna. The picture in appendix 03, shows the release of sewage that is reported to be from a resort in Mombasa area, Kenya, directly to a water source. In many cases, these emissions are of raw sewage hence cause extensive impact on the water sources. They cause the death of fish and other animals in the water sources especially seas. This in turn causes bad smell to the water sources hence make them unfit for human consumption and domestic use (Hamilton et al 2005). Global warming This is a kind of climate change that is caused by the release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases consist of carbon dioxide and Nitrogen oxide. These gases especially carbon dioxide are released by the means of cooking food, heating water for bathing and also washing. Global warming therefore refers to the increase of global temperatures. The transportation industry also plays a major role in releasing the gases that lead to global warming as you have seen in the early stages of this article. Passenger planes used by tourists emit large amounts of carbon dioxide gas hence impacting extensively on climate. Global warming has been known to impact negatively on the growth of animals and also plants. Extreme weather conditions have also been a trend thanks to the global warming (Sidle & Ochiai 2006). Some countries in Europe and America have experience extremely hot summers and extremely cold winters. The appendix 04, elaborates the adverse effects that global warming has had on extreme cold winters (Burton 2014). It has made some places like Canada quite inhabitable. Melting of ice in many mountains located in cold countries has also been facilitated by global warming. This has led to depletion of ice and also flooding. This case has been earlier reported in the year 2014 in Mountain Everest. There is also scientific connection of global warming and lightening. This may be a threat to peoples’ lives and also to plant life (Sidle & Ochiai 2006). Global warming will generally affect international tourism due to its adverse effects on the weather conditions as will be seen later in this essay. Impact of climatic issues on international tourism in the next 10 years There have been speculations of further decline of decline of tourists’ activities in the near future due to climate changes. Global warming has interfered with weather conditions in various parts of the content. This continued fluctuation in temperatures accompanied by unpredictable rains has discouraged flights of international tourists. For around ten years in future, this trend is predicted to be sporadic hence lowering the number of tourists jetting to various parts of the continent (Bates et al 2008). Tourists decline in number International tourists usually observe the trends in weather conditions and then do a lot of adjustments to their tour schedules. This in near future would see a decline in international tourists visiting some regions and also an increase in other regions. The extensive encroachment of trees is also observed. This is because of the needs to construct accommodation structures as earlier seen. This causes a lot of harm to wildlife. Trees are the main food for wildlife for example elephants, zebras and also antelopes. This would see a near extinction of these animals. Since they are a large tourist attraction feature in many parts including East Africa, it will see a decline in the number of tourists jetting into these countries (Burton 2014). Associated Natural Disasters There are also predicted occurrences of natural disasters that are linked to climate change. These include floods, avalanches, tornados and even hurricanes. These may discourage many international tourists in future because they may fear for their lives. This is predicted to impact negatively on the number of international tourists. Many tourists would prefer touring places near their region which do not experience such disasters. Research has shown that many tourists have lost their lives while in the coastal parts. This has been attributed to typhoons and hurricanes that have recurrently hit those places. An example is the typhoon that hit the coastal parts of India and Philippines some years back in 2008 and 2014 killing many people. This instills fear to tourists hence their reduction in ten years to come (Goeldner et al 2009). Animal Migration Climatic changes have also seen a drastic migration of many animals in search of food and water. This may create lack of consistency and causes inconveniences on the international tourists. A very good example is the annual migration of wildebeests that is witnessed in Kenya and Tanzanian border in East Africa. In appendix 05, you can see wildebeests grazing. This is during the migration process. The place where this picture was taken was Masai Mara National Park in Kenya. This migration is caused by urge to look for greener pastures due to the drought witnessed in Masai Mara in Kenya. This migration is therefore a plus to the increment of international tourists while other migrations are detrimental. International tourism may also decrease the impact caused on the environment in that when tourists’ activities fall, there would be decline in release of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions (Burton 2014). Conclusion Evidently from this report, international tourists’ activities impact negatively on the environment mostly on climate change. It can also be seen that the means of transport used play a large role in impacting on the environment. This is through various kinds of emissions from the fuel used to propel them. Environmental change also impacts on international tourism in various ways as discussed. References Bates, B., Kundzewicz, Z. W., Wu, S., Palutikof, J. (2008). Climate change and water. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Burton, P. (2014). Responding to climate change: lessons from an Australian hotspot. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1824715. Goeldner, C. R., & Ritchie, J. R. B. (2009). Tourism principles, practices, philosophies. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley. http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=7580. Hamilton, J. M., Maddison, D. J. & Tol, R. Sj (2005). Climate change and international tourism: a simulation study. Journal of Global environmental change. 15(3), pp. 253-266. Elsevier. Sidle, R. C., & Ochiai, H. (2006). Landslides: processes, prediction and land use. Washington, D.C, American Geophysical Union. Tamiotti, L. (2009). Trade and climate change: a report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Trade Organization. Geneva, World Trade Organization. Appendixes Read More