Impacts and Consequences of International Tourism on Environmental Change with Emphasis on Climate Change - Essay Example

IMPACTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF INTERNATIONAL TOURISM ON ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE WITH EMPHASIS ON CLIMATE CHANGE Name Student Number Course Date Executive Summary The report is divided into sections each with its own importance. The first section gives an overview of the report and further states its purpose. The second section then lucidly evaluates the environmental change issues in the context of global tourism. Additionally the section also gives the definition of environmental change and goes ahead to look at the contribution of international tourism on climate change. The next section then evaluates an additional environmental change issue that is of concern in international tourism and further discusses its possible effects on international tourism. The next section then makes a prediction on the state of international tourism in the next ten years based on the issues of climate change identified. The last section concludes the report and makes a few recommendations worth considering in the international tourism industry. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Impacts of International Tourism on Environmental Change 4 The Issue of Climate change in the Context of International Tourism 4 Other Environmental Change Issue Affecting International Tourism 6 Predicted Impacts of the Climate Change Issues on International Tourism in the Next Ten Years 6 Conclusion 7 Introduction The globalization of economies has created a serene environment for international tourism to thrive. Resultantly, the dynamic tourism industry has thrives to become of the world’s largest and diverse industry. The industry has been the major source of revenue for both developed and the developing nations (Conrady, Buck, Viehl, & Tittel, 2011). This has been through creation of employment, growth of the transport and communication industry, and infrastructural development in both public and private sector. International tourism refers to the activities of individuals or groups traveling and staying in not more than one year in places other than their places or countries of residence for business, leisure and a conglomerate of other purposes and goals (Scott, Hall, & Gössling, 2012). In the recent years international tourism has attracted a lot of debates not only in its contribution to the society but also the effects it confers on the environment (Amelung, Nicholls, & Viner, 2007). International tourism being global has caused environmental change both directly and indirectly as shall be seen in the report. This has been through transport, accommodation and other tourism associated anthropogenic activities .The aim of this report is to look into the link between climate change and international tourism predicting the impacts of the identified climate change issues in the next decade. Impacts of International Tourism on Environmental Change International tourism has been linked in most studies to environmental change especially climate change that is a hot topic in the environmental discussions (World Tourism Organization & United Nations Environment Programme, 2008). Environmental change can be defined as the alteration of the current balanced state of the surrounding of organisms through a variety of methods that have negative impacts on the environment (World Tourism Organization & United Nations Environment Programme, 2008). The Issue of Climate change in the Context of International Tourism The most significant environmental change issue in international tourism has been the increase in the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. This has attracted the attention of different bodies as well as researchers and policy makers. The international tourism industry that also covers the regional tourism, heavily relies on the transport industry more so the aviation transport sector (Hall, Scoott, & Gössling, 2013). Additionally, there are range of accommodation services and human activities aimed at making international tourism a success (World Tourism Organization & United Nations Environment Programme, 2008). While all these are meant to make the industry thrive. They have been associated with exceptionally high levels of CO2 release into the atmosphere. According to UNTWO (2011) climate change is the major challenge that affects the whole world in the twenty first century. However, the contribution of international tourism in environmental change has resulted in global warming that has had profound effects on the environment. The contribution id either direct or indirect. First off, the elevated temperatures have caused the increase in evaporation form the earth surface creating desert like conditions (Hall et al., 2013). This causes the ecological niches previously occupied by organisms and plants to reduce; there is loss of biodiversity (Skanavis1 & Sakellari, 2011). The increase in temperature has also caused increased precipitation in some parts of the world leading to floods and other natural disasters (Skanavis1 & Sakellari, 2011). Drought like conditions have also been blamed for forest fires that clears the natural carbon sinks thus further accumulation of CO2 that has profound effects (Amelung et al., 2007). There has also been the melting of icecaps that has led to the increase in sea levels (Skanavis1 & Sakellari, 2011). This has led to the erosion and submersion of the coastal plains and beaches some of which are used by animals as their habitats. The carbon emissions from the international tourism industry accounts for 5% of the total emissions encountered on the earth surface (UNWTO, 2011). Sector wise, the aviation transport industry has a share of 40%, followed by car transport with 32%, the accommodation activities and facilities with 21%, last is the other forms of transport and activities that take a share of 7% in the total emission of CO2 from the international tourism industry (UNWTO, 2011). Essentially tourism contributes to climate change through air pollution and the emission of CO2 in the atmosphere (UNWTO, 2011). This has resulted in the destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere that blocks harmful comic radiations from reaching the earth consequently leading to global warming. Global warming has caused the increase in the number of storms that destroy structures that attract tourists especially in the coastal plains (UNWTO, 2011). Increased precipitation also hampers some tourism activities that are field based such as hiking, skating, skiing, and beach volleyball among others. Other Environmental Change Issue Affecting International Tourism Global warming is not only the climate change issue that results from international tourism industry. Land and water pollution also results from the activities of human beings in the industry. During the transport either by land and sea there has been cases of leakages and thus release of petroleum onto the earth surface (World Tourism Organization & United Nations Environment Programme, 2008). These chemicals are not biodegradable and may take too long on the earth surface affecting the existence of animals and plants. Additionally, the dumping of wastes accrued from the industry especially the accommodation, transport and communication industry has been associated with and pollution (World Tourism Organization & United Nations Environment Programme, 2008). This has led to the destruction of the aesthetic beauty of the tourist destination and creation of unfavorable condition for flora and fauna to exist. This has led to the extinction of some animals and plants that have rich heritage behind their existence. Increased levels of land and water pollution affects the wellbeing of both plants and animals (Scott et al., 2012). When the animals and plants are cleared off there is the loss of biodiversity that forms the other major attraction of tourists. Predicted Impacts of the Climate Change Issues on International Tourism in the Next Ten Years The future of international tourism is in dilemma if the aforementioned issues are not well managed and maintained sustainably. First off, the flow of tourists from one region to another will be affected by the increased levels of carbon monoxide leading to smog that causes accidents (Schott, 2010). The tourists themselves will also not be in a position to plan effectively prior to visiting areas due to shifting of seasons and thus decrease in the statistics that are currently high (Schott, 2010). This will additionally be propagated by strict policies that will make transport to tourist destinations expensive. The cost of tourism is also likely to hike as a result of the artificial methods of creating conditions that are depended on by most sport tourists such as snow making for skiing and skating (Schott, 2010). The costs of making snow and maintain it will be higher compared to the number of tourists that are visiting such areas (Scott et al., 2012). The costs of mitigating the effects that have been created by the industry might overwhelm the operational costs leading to loss on part of the investors (Reddy & Wilkes, 2013). As a result most tourist destinations will reduce in terms of flow of people and thus reduced returns on investments. When there is change or shift in seasons the animals are likely to overlap into the territories occupied by human beings leading to wildlife-human conflicts that are usually not good as the results are economically undesirable (Amelung et al., 2007). Most established international tourist hotels will close down due to poor demand causing the economies at the global scale to be affected and thus financial crisis that knows no industry (Reddy & Wilkes, 2013). The transport an agriculture industries that international tourism is heavily dependent on will also face the consequences of climate change leading to loss of revenue and destabilization of the global tourism industry (Amelung et al., 2007). The next decade therefore should be explicitly dedicated to research and development that are meant to curb the worst case scenario; closure of the tourism industry (Conrady et al., 2011). Policy makers should consider the above possibilities and act swiftly to save the future of global tourism Conclusion The global tourism industry is a very essential part in the global economy. However, despite the industry’s dependence on climate, it has resulted to concomitant change in climate. This has raised the above discussed environmental change issues. As have been discussed in the report, the international tourism industry is likely to induce environmental change either directly or indirectly. The first environmental change issue as discussed is global warming and the next one is land and water pollution. All these issues have their own negative consequences as further seen that pose a threat to the tourism industry. The report also predicts the effects of the aforementioned issues in the next decade with reference to the international tourism industry. This is a clear indication that various stakeholders involved should deliberate on the best ways to mitigate the above identified issues that are likely to have the consequences explained above on the industry. The transport industry, the accommodation facilities and infrastructural developments should be solution based and have less emission into the atmosphere. Bibliography Amelung, B., Nicholls, S., & Viner, D. 2007, “Implications of global climate change for tourism flows and seasonality”. Journal of Travel Research, 45(1), 285-297. Conrady, R., Buck, M., Viehl, P., & Tittel, K. 2011, “Trends and issues in global tourism 2011”. Heidelberg: Springer. Hall, C. M., Scoott, D., & Gössling, S. 2013, “The Primacy of Climate Change for Sustainable International Tourism”. Sustainable Development, 21(2), 112-121. 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. Scott, D., Hall, C. N., & Gössling, S. 2012, “Tourism and Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation”. New York: Routledge. Skanavis1, C., & Sakellari, M. 2011, “International Tourism, Domestic Tourism and Environmental Change: Environmental Education Can Find the Balance”. Tourismos: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, 6(1), 233-249. UNWTO. 2011, December, “Tourism and Climate Change”. Retrieved from http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/docpdf/climatechange.pdf World Tourism Organization, & United Nations Environment Programme. (2008). “Climate change and tourism: Responding to global challenges”. Madrid: World Tourism Organization. Read More