Lecture 9

Question 1

What is climate change?

Answer 1

…strong scientific evidence that human action is a key driver in the current warming of the atmosphere and that this process will exert a significant impact on humanity in future decades

Question 2

What area scientists uncertain of interms of climate change?

Answer 2

What is uncertain is the speed at which change will occur and the extent of that change.
This has serious impacts on the predictive abilities of nations, cities, individuals, and yes…
…the tourism industry.

Question 3

What did the IPCC say about climate change?

Answer 3

“most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic GHG concentrations

Question 4

What are the main GHG?

Answer 4

• Carbon dioxide (CO2); 
• Methane (CH3);
• Ozone (O4); 
• Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and;
Nitrous oxide (N2O).

Question 5

What is the single greatest contributor to Climate change?

Answer 5

• The single greatest contributor is the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas);
• Agricultural activities (IPCC, 2007) are also a major contributor;
• Slash and burn deforestation is common in many parts of the world and contributes directly to CO2 emissions, while the reduction in forest cover reduces the earth’s ability to absorb CO2.

Question 6

How much have atmospheric CO2 levels increased over time?

Answer 6

• “Atmospheric levels of CO2 have risen from 280 ppm (parts per million) at the beginning of the Industrial Age in the nineteenth century to 390 ppm in October 2011

Question 7

When did global action against climate change first take place?

Answer 7

Global action to combat climate change has been slow and formally commenced with the Kyoto Protocol initially adopted in December 1997.
Under the protocol, 37 ‘developed’ countries and the European Community agreed to reduce four GHGs (CO2, CH3, N2O and SF6) and two types of gasses (hydro-fluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons) by 5.2%

Question 8

When did scientific interest grow for climate change?

Answer 8

• Interest in climate change grew slowly through the 1970s and early 1980s.
• Interest grew strongly in the early 1990s, with the number of journal articles jumping from 90 in 1989 to 573 in 1995.
• A geometric rise in published research has been noted since then, with more than 9,700 academic journal articles published in 2010.

Question 9

Why is climate change in a unique and unenviable ?

Answer 9

The tourism industry is in the unique and unenviable position of being simultaneously:
• a major contributor of GHGs, and;
• a significant victim of changing climate.
• Some of the things we need fo r tourism contribute a lot to GHG and climate change
○ Tourism causeing and victim to climate change

Question 10

How does tourism contribute to climate change ?

Answer 10

The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that tourism contributed to about:
• 5% of total global CO2 emissions, and;
• Up to 14% of all emissions when other GHGs are considered.
• A large amount oof global contribution
• Would be 5th is tourism were a country
• Any kind of transportation contributes the most to GHG

Question 11

How is tourism a victim of climate change?

Answer 11

Phase 1 involves an assessment of a destination’s vulnerability and resilience
by defining the components of the tourism system, evaluating risks and opportunities,
and then determining the adaptive capacity of the destination.
• Describing oturism system is first , engage stakeholders
• Assess risk and opportunity,
• Factors that limit or enhance the vulnerability of the location

Phase 2 focuses on increasing the destination’s resilience, resistance and readiness with the goal of enhancing its ability to absorb change, reduce the number of impacts that are likely to affect tourism, and be ready to take advange of opportunities that aries
• Adaptatonio proces >Identifying options, testing with consumers
§ Can decrease vulnerability to climate change risks
§ Increase readiness for climate change

Question 12

What is tourism industry dependent on anyways?

Answer 12

Is weather dependent

Question 13

What aspects of tourism can be directly and indirectly impacted by cliaimte change?

Answer 13

the range of climate change impacts on tourism into the direct and indirect impacts of climate, with possible changes to tourist mobility, destination vulnerability and social impacts.
• CC impacts our ability to move, restos with rsiing sea levels, coral bleaching immpacted vulnerability to destination. Jobs can decrease as jobs are lost from tourism

Question 14

Is climate change uneven?

Answer 14

that impacts would be uneven, potentially benefiting some destinations.

Resulted in This “Victim, Winner, Loser” theme has continued to dominate much of the research agenda to the present.

Question 15

How will destinations be unevenly affected due to climate change?

Answer 15

“[in] a higher CO2 world, the overall volume of tourism, the pattern of outdoor pursuits, the
degree of customer satisfaction and even the levels of safety in some environments are all likely to change……winter sport and beach holiday facilities will be directly threatened by global warming and sea level rise. Enhanced temperatures in the midlatitudes may well reduce the relative attraction of some Mediterranean and longer-haul destinations, especially if areas like the Caribbean become more
prone to hurricanes.”

Question 16

Tourism is dependent on the destination climate as well as what?

Answer 16

The emphasis is not only on impacts in destination areas, but also the importance of the
originating market’s climate!

• Also matters what happening on the originating market, where the tourists are coming from

Question 17

If mid climate cities become warmer and their normal hot destination becomes too warm what does that cause them too doo?

Answer 17

warmer weather within the originating region may also convince more people to take domestic holidays. The impact of climate change on tourist satisfaction also features …where he suggests that tourists will become more discriminating as they become aware of the impact of climate on the quality of recreational experiences.
• Certain deestinations are finee today, but as cliamt epatterns start to change the tourist may become descrimitating and knowck certain destinations off their list

Question 18

What are some tourist destinations that can be affected by climate change?

Answer 18

Low-lying touristic islands may become flooded…
Demand during the summer peak season in places such as Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey may fall as temperatures exceed comfortable levels…
Coral reef-dependent destinations will also come under pressure as coral bleaching reduces the appeal…
The biodiversity of rainforests will also suffer as temperatures increase…
Golfing destinations that rely on plentiful water supplies may be affected by a decline in rainfall…

Cultural heritage sites in Italy have been damaged by landslides due to floodwaters, and the Chan Chan Archaeological zone in Peru has been affected by intense precipitation…
In the Caribbean, extreme weather events could affect the hotel infrastructures as well as tourist attractions, while on the demand-side a change in climatic features could lead to a shift in visitor patterns…
Unpredictable weather further makes trip planning difficult and may lower visitor satisfaction. If weather conditions change or become volatile, tourists may either shift to other destinations or simply stay home
Extremes in weather may also affect the appeal of certain Australian destinations due to hotter
weather, more intense rainfall, but less precipitation overall, a greater risk of fire and a greater risk of severe cyclones…

Question 19

How does the term winners and losers come into play with climate change?

Answer 19

There could be winners and losers in the skiing sector as some resorts cease to operate and demand is shifted to those that are more climate-resilient. Prices could rise
• Low leveel ski resort will go out of business, high level resorts will be sought after and they can incerase their prices

Question 20

What will the winners and losers in climate change affect?

Answer 20

• Destination choice
• Vacation satisfaction
• Destination competitiveness.