Contribution of International Tourism to Climate Change - Report Example

CONTRIBUTION OF INTERNATIONAL TOURISM TO CLIMATE CHANGE Name Course Tutor Date Executive Summary This report is aimed at looking into the impacts of international tourism on climate change. The first section gives an overview of the report. The second section then looks at the contribution of international tourism on climate. The next section of the report addresses the impacts of the issues discussed in the previous section in the next decade on international tourism as well as addresses the environmental change issues that affect international tourism. The next section concludes the report and offers a recommendation that could be considered by policy makers. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Contribution of International Tourism on Climate Change 4 Impacts of the Issues Discussed on Tourism in the next Ten Years 6 Conclusion 7 Bibliography 8 Introduction The contribution of tourism to the global economy is very significant. Globalization and further advancement in the levels of technology in communication and transport has revolutionized the international tourism industry substantially. There has been an observed increase in international travels to various tourist destinations all over the world (Scott, 2010). International tourism refers to type of tourism where individuals or groups travel to new destinations all over the world outside their residential countries for purposes that are out of business (Scott, 2010). The tourists spend one or more nights on accommodation facilities in the destination countries (Scott, 2010). The contribution of international tourism to climate change has been the center of most discussions with proponents holding the notion that tourism has some significant impacts in climate change. Tourism is climate dependent and this has been the trend over the last decades and centuries (Scott, 2010). Additionally, the season dependent sun and sea tourism also relies on temperature and favorable climate. The environment too is a great resource to the tourism industry being that most organisms that draw the attention of tourists reside in the environment (Hernandez and Ryan, 2011). There has been an alarm over the increasing rates of CO2 that is being released from international tourism industries calling for different stakeholders to formulate different policies to curb the increase. The emissions in the international tourism industry result from transport, accommodation and various human activities that are linked with the sector. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the link between tourism and climate change with emphasis on international tourism. Contribution of International Tourism on Climate Change The sustainability of industries has been the center of most corporate organizations as well as nongovernmental organizations. Environmental lobbyists have been on the move to raise awareness to the general public at the global level concerning the contribution of international tourism to climate change. The most common finding in most studies looking into the impact of tourism on the environment has suggested that tourism indeed causes climate change. The activities, accommodation and transport in the international tourism have been estimated to contribute 5% of all greenhouse gases that are currently present in the atmosphere (Scott, 2010). The transport sector especially air transport has been linked with the highest contribution of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The international tourism based aviation industry has contributed 40% of the greenhouse gases from international tourism (Gössling, 2011). The car transport then follows with 32% and is closely followed by 21% that is accounted for by the accommodation services in the international tourism industry (Gössling, 2011). Other activities that are artificial account for the remaining 7% collectively. It is a known fact that CO2 has undesirable impacts on the environment and its presence is very skeptical for the wellbeing of climate (Gössling, 2011). The number of trips made internationally and locally through the use of air transport has increased in the last decade due to commercialization of the air transport industry. Air has also been considered as the most efficient, fast and safest form of transport despite the few occasions that have taken place (Buckley, 2011). The amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere through this form of transport has increased. Nitrogen oxides and CO2 have been the most common types of gases that are released from the fumes. Holden and Fennel (2013) assert that measurements through radioactive forcing, which measures the extent to which the emission of greenhouse gases is responsible for a specified period indicate high levels in the atmosphere and correspondingly greater effects (Buckley, 2011). The contribution of international air travel in the tourism industry to total amount of emissions stands at 16% (Hernandez and Ryan, 2011). Armed with the figures stated above, it is very eminent that there is a link between international tourism and climate change. Most tourists are accommodated in various restaurants that have different facilities that have some significant amount of carbon footprint. The processes such as healing, cooling and washing using equipment have been shown to emit CO2. Natural gas and firewood are used in the hotel destinations in cooking. Additionally, there are also cold rooms and refrigerators, air conditioning systems and drying systems that use propellants that are laden with greenhouse gases that deplete the protective layer of the atmosphere; ozone layer (Hernandez and Ryan, 2011). There are also a number of anthropogenic activities aimed at improving the infrastructure at the destination countries that further contribute to the emission of CO2 in the atmosphere. Additionally, the electronics that are being used by the tourists in communication such as mobile phones, tablets, and computers have some carbon footprints in their life cycle (Hernandez and Ryan, 2011). The activities include construction, incineration of waste, cleaning services and the exploitation of natural resources that are at the paces being visited to pave way. Environmental Impacts resulting from Climate Change due to Tourism The consequence of the rising levels of CO2 has had a greater impact on the environment. Environmental change refers to the disturbance of the environment due to anthropogenic activities or natural ecological processes in the environment itself. The most visible climate change has been the increase in temperature. This has been due to the destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere that absorbs the harmful cosmic radiation from the sun (Holden and Fennel, 2013). This has not only increased the temperatures but also led to harmful radiation effects on organisms and plants. This has made the organisms to the shift of ecological niches thus disrupting the ecosystems. The increase in temperatures have resulted in the melting of glacier in the Polar Regions as well as the ice-caped mountains. This has further led to the rise in the level of sea water (Scott, 2010). Consequently, habitats initially occupied by species in the coastal regions have been submerged leading to the extinction of unique species (Holden and Fennel, 2013). The increase in temperatures and further submergence of the coastal plains have led to loss of biodiversity as a result of increased evaporation rates and shift of seasons that affect the viability and mating of organisms. The forests that also act as carbon sinks have also been cleared either to pave way for development or through the draught like conditions due to rise in temperature further leading to accumulation of CO2 due to the destruction of carbon sinks (Holden and Fennel, 2013). The aesthetic beauty of various terrain and topographical landscapes has also been eroded due to increased precipitation and low cover. An increase in such manner of environmental mutilation will lead to the reduction in the number of tourist destinations. Impacts of the Issues Discussed on Tourism in the next Ten Years The issues discussed above are likely to negatively impact international tourism in different ways. The degradation of the environment will have both direct and indirect impacts on international tourism (Holden and Fennel, 2013). If the temperatures and seasonal shifts being experienced currently persist, the future of international tourism is blurred (Buckley, 2011). The seasonality of tourism that depends on planning of the tourists will be unpredictable due to the shifting seasons making it hard to plan on when to visit a given destination (Scott, 2010). The shift in seasons will also change the behavior of animals and plants that attract tourists (Buckley, 2011). This will make it hard for tourists to visit especially when the animals are hibernating (Holden and Fennel, 2013). This will result in the increase of costs and loss of revenue due to fluctuations in travel. The pollution of the atmosphere posed by the fumes in the atmosphere is likely to cause an elevation of accidents in the tourism transport industry. The accidents could include plane crash, capsizing of cruises and ferries, and car accidents (Scott, 2010). This is likely to reduce the demand for travel tourism thus causing loss off profits in the next decade. The increase in temperature also increases the amount of precipitation that makes the visits to different areas and regions (Holden and Fennel, 2013). The storms also destroy tourist attraction sites at the coastal regions thus reducing traffic to such attractions in the industry (Scott, 2010). If the temperature changes are not kept check off in the next decade, the future of international tourism is in a bad position. Conclusion The tourism industry has been undergoing dynamic globalization process. As stated the industry has contributed both directly and indirectly on climate change and thus the degradation of the environment in the manner discussed in the paper. Globalization has been the facilitator of international tourism at various levels. There has also been a significant impact of climate change on international tourism as have been discussed in the paper. The major cause of climate change identified is CO2 gas emission with the effects stated and explored in the paper. The paper has also achieved it purpose of showing the future of the international tourism amidst the stated effects of climate change. The recognized environmental change has been the destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere that has had confounding effects on temperature, resulting into undesirable situations likely to influence tourism in negative manner. Bibliography Buckley, R. (2011). Tourism Under Climate Change: Will Slow Travel Supersede Short Breaks? AMBIO, 40(3), 328–331. Doi: 10.1007/s13280-010-0100-x. Gössling, S. 2011, “Carbon management in tourism: Mitigating the impacts on climate change”. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Hernandez, A. B., & Ryan, G. 2011, “Coping with Climate Change in the Tourism Industry: A Review and Agenda for Future Research”. Tourism and Hospitality Management, 17(1), 79-90. Holden, A., & Fennell, D. A. 2013, “The Routledge handbook of tourism and the environment”. New York: Routledge. Ramasamy, R., & Swamy, A. 2012, “Global Warming, Climate Change and Tourism: A Review of Literature”. Special issue: Sustainability, Tourism & Environment in the Shift of a Millennium: A Peripheral View, 6(3), 72-98. Schott, C. (2010). “Tourism and the implications of climate change: Issues and actions”. Bingley, U.K: Emerald. Read More