Tourism, Recreation and Climate Change

C. Michael Hall, James Higham, C. Michael Hall, James Higham

• Publisher: Channel View Publications
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN: 9781845410032
• eBook ISBN: 9781845413149
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Climate change is one of the major issues facing us today and has been described as a threat greater than terrorism. As the world's largest industry tourism both contributes to and will be dramatically affected by climate change. This is the first comprehensive book-level examination of the relationship between tourism and climate change, of interest not only to students of tourism but to policy makers and the industry who will have to respond to the challenges posed.

Part 1: Context

Chapter 1

Introduction: Tourism, Recreation and Climate Change

C. MICHAEL HALL AND JAMES HIGHAM

In my view, climate change is the most severe problem we are facing
today, more serious even than the threat of terrorism – David King,
Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government. (King, 2004: 176)

Human-induced changes in the global climate system and in stratospheric ozone pose a range of severe health risks and potentially threaten economic development and social and political stability – Declaration of the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, 1999. (WHO, Regional Office for Europe, Global Change and Health, http://www.euro.who.int/globalchange)

It is one of the great truisms that everybody talks about the weather. However, in recent years, interest in the weather has grown as high magnitude storm events, floods, droughts, snowstorms and record high temperatures have become associated with potential changes in the world's climate. For example, the record high temperatures experienced in Europe in the northern hemisphere summer of 2003 focused enormous attention on climate-related issues. Paris experienced the highest night-time temperatures ever recorded on 11 and 12 August (25.5C), and several countries, including Belgium, Finland, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, also experienced record temperatures. The heatwave was unusual in that it affected several countries and persisted for at least ten days; in fact the whole northern summer (June, July, August) was much hotter than usual (Schär et al., 2004; see also Perry, Chapter 5, this volume).

In France the Minister for the Elderly admitted that 10,000 people had most likely died because of the heatwave. In the last week of August, President Jacques Chirac addressed the nation saying that weaknesses in the French health system had contributed to these heat-related deaths. Despite similar heatwave conditions in the United Kingdom, with temperatures peaking on 10 August in Bogdale, near Faversham, Kent, where 38.5C (101.3F) was recorded, the British government response was much more low key. However, in October 2003 official figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggested that the death toll in England and Wales as a result of the ten-day heatwave in August 2003 may have been around 2000 people, which was much higher than those admitted at the time. According to the ONS between 4 and 13 August there were 15,187 deaths in England and Wales, 2045 above the average for the previous five years. In commenting on the ONS figures Carvel (2003: 10) said: ‘Although the statisticians were not yet able to provide an analysis of the ages of the victims and causes of death, it seemed almost certain that extreme heat was the reason for the higher mortality.’ Indeed, more recent preliminary estimates of the impact of the European heatwave on mortality suggest that in England and Wales 2045 or 16% excess deaths occurred, in France 14,802 deaths (60%), Italy 3134 deaths (15%) and Portugal 2099 deaths (26%) (Kovats et al., 2004). While reaction to the heatwave from European governments raised substantial issues regarding government preparedness for such extreme climate events in relation to public health, the forest and scrub fires in Portugal, Spain and France also created a powerful image in the media of the impacts of such heatwaves on the landscape. As Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, the Portuguese Prime Minister, stated, ‘We are standing before a tragedy which is unprecedented in Portugal in terms of fires… We are facing an exceptional situation. It's been brought about by absolutely exceptional weather conditions, so we have to respond with exceptional measures’ (BBC News, 2003). Arguably, the impacts of the 2003 heatwave on European perceptions of climate were even more stark because of the comparisons that could be made with the floods that affected central Europe the previous year (BBC News, 2002).

Given this kind of context it should therefore be of no great surprise that prospects of climate change have become the focus of media attention as well as substantial scientific debate (e.g. O´Riordan and Jäger, 1996; Houghton, 1997; Jepma & Mohan, 1998; Mendlesohn, 1999; Drake, 2000; Harvey, 2000; Sarewitz & Pielke Jr, 2000; Claussen, 2002; King, 2003). The extent of media coverage of global climate change issues is illustrated in Table 1.1, which shows major stories on climate change reported in the Guardian and Observer newspapers at the end of 2003/beginning of 2004. While undoubtedly highlighting the range of issues associated with global climate change and some of the policy debates that surround them, the newspaper reports also begin to indicate the potential role of the media in influencing the public's perception of places and activities. Not only do the news stories indicate the potential direct impact of climate change on tourism, e.g. the sale of Scottish ski resorts (Seenan, 2004), but also indirect impacts because of changes to resources that are part of tourism product offerings, e.g. coral reef bleaching (Radford, 2004b), species extinction (Brown, 2004a), and changes to seasonal weather patterns (Brown, 2004b; Radford, 2004a). Undoubtedly, tourism will not be the only industry to feel the effects of climate change. However, as one of the main world industries in terms of employment and economic returns, and of particularly importance in a number of developing countries and small island states, any impacts on tourism will have substantial economic, social and political repercussions. Moreover, tourism is arguably even more susceptible to global climate change because of the reliance on the environment in many destinations for their attractiveness, especially in coastal and mountain regions, while outdoor recreation activities are also susceptible to climatic extremes. Tables 1.2 and 1.3 detail the ideal climatic requirements for some outdoor recreation activities.

Table 1.1 Key climate change-related stories in the Guardian and Observer newspapers in late 2003/early 2004

Date	Story heading	Outline
22 February	Now the Pentagon tells Bush: Climate change will destroy us	Secret security report to President Bush warns of rioting and nuclear war as a result of climate change, describes threat as greater than terrorism. According to the report climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters and warns that Britain will be ‘Siberian’ in less than 20 years (Townsend & Harris, 2004).
19 February	Careful with that planet, Mr President	Diana Liverman was a senior climate adviser in the US. Back in the UK, she argues for American scientists to be freed from their fear of speaking out on global warming (Liverman, 2004).
19 February	Bonfire of the promises	The Global Climate Coalition, a powerful alliance of car makers, oil drillers and electricity generators, believes that the White House under President Bush shares their view that global warming is a hoax (Goldenberg, 2004).
19 February	The White Death	Refers to the bleaching of coral reefs as a result of increased ocean temperatures (Radford, 2004b).
14 February	Meltdown	Alaska is a wealthy huge oil producer but has suffered the consequences of global warming, faster and more terrifyingly than anyone could have predicted (Lynas, 2004).
14 February	Global warming forces sale of Scottish winter sports resorts	The future of skiing and snowboarding in Scotland appeared bleak after two of the country's five ski resorts were put up for sale after large financial losses (Seenan, 2004).
3 February	Summer heatwave matches predictions	A climate scientist warned that the heatwave in the northern summer of 2003 that killed thousands across Europe and saw temperatures in Britain pass 100F (38C) is a sign of things to come (Adam, 2004).
20 January	CO2 limits suicidal for competitiveness, says industry	British industry urged ministers to undertake a drastic revision of their plans for cuts of up to 20% in carbon dioxide emissions and warned they could be suicidal for manufacturing's competitiveness (Gow, 2004b).
17 January	CO2 cuts will raise prices, says industry	Britain's heavy industry, including power stations, will have to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 16% over the next few years under strict new national guidelines for implementing EU regulations (Gow, 2004a).
12 January	Freak summers ‘will happen regularly’	Study suggests costly extremes of weather will become the norm (Radford, 2004a).
11 January	Giant space shield plan to save planet	Key talks involving the UK government's most senior climate experts produced proposals to site a massive shield on the edge of space, deflecting the sun's rays and stabilising the climate (Townsend, 2004).
9 January	Top scientist attacks US over global warming	Climate change is a more serious threat to the world than terrorism, David King, the UK government's chief scientist, writes in an article in Science magazine, attacking governments for doing too little to combat global warming (Brown & Oliver, 2004).
9 January	Midwinter spring is the new season	Climate change confusing wildlife (Brown, 2004b).
8 January	An unnatural disaster	Climate change over the next 50 years is expected to drive a quarter of land animals and plants into extinction, according to the first comprehensive study into the effect of higher temperatures on the natural world, killing off one million species, and one in ten animals and plants extinct by 2050 (Brown, 2004a).
8 January	Action now could still save some threatened species	Estimates of extinction risk associated with climate change should compel people to start thinking about the consequences of massive species loss (Thomas & Cameron, 2004).
21 December	Britain can start dreaming of a green Christmas with swallows	As temperatures rise in the UK, spring is earlier and snow will become only a memory (Jowit, 2003).
18 December	Earth is 20% darker, say experts	Scientists report that human activity is making the planet darker as well as warmer, with levels of sunlight reaching earth's surface having declined by up to 20% in recent years (Adam, 2003).
13 December	Drowning islands halt effort to postpone climate change talks	A coalition of 40 small islands, some of which are in imminent danger of disappearing beneath the ocean, blocked attempts by major states to delay climate talks for 18 months (Brown, 2004e).
12 December	Global warming kills 150,000 a year: Disease and malnutrition the biggest threats, UN organisations warn at talks on Kyoto	At least 150,000 people die needlessly each year as a direct result of global warming, three major UN organisations warned. The belief that the effects of climate change would become apparent in 10, 20 or 50 years time was misplaced, they said in a report. The changes had already brought about a noticeable increase in malnutrition, and outbreaks of diarrhoea and malaria (Brown, 2003d).
11 December	Extreme weather of climate change gives insurers a costly headache	Economic losses in the European agricultural sector because of the 2003 summer drought exceeded £7bn because of loss of crops and livestock, the insurance industry announced (Brown, 2003c).
11 December	Global warming is killing us too, say Inuit	The Inuit of Canada and Alaska are launching a human rights case against the Bush administration claiming they face extinction because of global warming. The Inuit claim that by repudiating the Kyoto Protocol and refusing to cut US carbon dioxide emissions, which make up 25% of the world's total, Washington is violating their human rights (Brown, 2003b).
10 December	Climate...

Table of contents

• Coverpage
• Titlepage
• Dedication
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Part 1: Context
• Part 2: The Effects of Climate Change on Tourist Flows and Recreation Patterns
• Part 3: Adaptation and Response: Managing the Relationship Between Tourism, Recreation and Global Climate Change
• Index