Realities of climate change

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Climate is a measure of the average pattern of variation in temperature, atmospheric pressure, sunshine, wind precipitation, atmospheric particle and other meteorological variables in a given region over a particular long period of time. Climate differs from weather in that weather describes the atmospheric conditions of a certain region at a particular time while climate is the average atmospheric conditions of that region for a long period usually 30 or more years. Hence climate may also be defined as the average weather of a region of a given region over a longer period of time. Climate of a place has components which include; atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. Climate change is the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time. Climate change may also be termed as the carbon change because this change is caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other particles that prevent part of the sun’s warming rays from reaching the earth’s atmosphere. The burning of carbon fuels notably wood, oil and coal generates greenhouse gases which creates a layer that trap the heat from the sun close to the earth’s atmosphere. These greenhouse gases cause depletion of the ozone layer that protects the human skin from harmful ultra violet sun rays that may cause cancer.
Hospitality and Tourism industry have a two way relationship with the climate. The two way relationship between tourism and climate change has important economic and developmental implications for many regions in the world. It goes without saying that the hospitality, travel and tourism industry is a major contributor to global economic development. There are economies in the world whereby tourism is the backbone of their economic development. Climate change has a significant influence on the tourism sector. There are several realities of climate change some are addressed in this essay. They are;
The existence of severe droughts and the rise in destructive flood is one of the realities of climate change. In the year of 2014 there was a severe drought in Brazil and very destructive floods in the same country. This is just a representation of what the whole world was experiencing as there were severe droughts and floods in several places of the world. Statistics show that annual precipitation projected to decrease across most of Central America and Caribbean, northeastern area (Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, northeast Brazil) and in the southwestern portion (Chile, southern Argentina), some of which are already experiencing droughts. On the other hand precipitation increases are projected for the western portions (Ecuador, portions of Colombia) and Uruguay. This has taken place as a result of change in climate. Destructive human activities such as deforestation has led to the drying of water catchment areas and the trees which attract rain have been felled causing drought in so many places of the world. (Anon., n.d.)
The other reality of climate change is the fact that it is getting too warm. There has been observed rise in temperature. Temperature rise has been discerned to be between 0.4-2.5°C with most of the warming taking place in the east. Temperature experienced currently is far much above temperature that was experienced several years ago. This rise in temperature has caused melting of ice in mountain tops which flow into oceans causing rise in sea level.
Rich biodiversity is facing risk of extinction. This is another reality of climate change in the world. The remarkable rise in temperature coupled with deforestation has put biodiversity in a serious risk of extinction. The loss of home of animals is posing a serious threat to biodiversity as it may lead to the numerous species facing extinction. Deforestation has also led to loss of the habitat of these species. Human is also clearing forests which serve as habitats for species, for the purposes of agriculture and settlement and this is also leading to extinction of various species leading to destruction of biodiversity.
Another reality of climate change is the rise in sea level and ocean acidification. This is a very serious concern. Hundreds of millions of people live in the coastal areas and a rise in the sea level is a big threat to the settlements around these coastal areas. Rise in sea level has led to rampant floods. These floods have claimed many lives as well as causing loss of property worth a lot of money. Floods have become a big problem to many economies in the world. People have been left homeless due to floods and this has left the government with the burden of resettling them. Loss of productive people especially the young, due to floods has led to the deterioration of economies as it is a massive loss of labor. Floods have also led to destruction of transport and communication lines which is a blow to the economies. On the other hand, ocean warming and acidification which is as a result of climate change, has caused a massive decrease in marine fisheries. There are projections that indicate that the coral reef of Mesoamerican will collapse by the year 2050 due to ocean acidification.
Climate change has put food security in jeopardy. It is anticipated that in the coming decades half of the current agricultural land will be subjected to desertification and salinization is some regions. People are causing desertification in search of more agricultural land little do they know that they are causing desertification which is a threat to agricultural farming. Water availability drastically shifting in the world regions is also a serious threat to food security. Observations concerning changes in flow of streams and water availability have been made and are predicted to continue at the same rate in the future. For instance Iceland glacier are retreating at an alarming rate, affecting the seasonal timing and volume of stream flows.
The hospitality, tourism and travel industry have to some extent contributed to the change in climate in various ways. Tourism is responsible of about five percent of global carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. As we saw emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere leads to the greenhouse effect which brings about global warming. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has led to the depletion of the protective ozone layer against harmful rays of the sun. This way tourism has contributed to global warming. Tourism industry heavily involves transport systems. These transports systems include; air, car, rail and water. Air transport is the chief contributor of global warming among the transport systems. This is due to the heavy emission of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The accommodation sector in the hospitability industry is also accountable of a great emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. There are services that take place in hotels and other accommodation facilities. Heating is common in hotels and this is a major contributor to carbon dioxide emission. Air conditioning and the maintenance of bars, restaurants, pools and other facilities also contribute to climate change via emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Other activities such as museums, theme parks, events or shipping are also contributors towards climate change as they have significant emissions too. These large hotels used to accommodate tourists were found to have more emissions than greenhouses, self-catering apartments or campgrounds this is due to their high usage of energy to operate extra facilities. Emissions arising from tourism activities are directly related to the amount of fossil energy consumed. For instance water skiing results in more emissions than hiking while amusement parking have more emissions as compared to river rafting (Anon., 2015).
Tourism is rapidly expanding and the greenhouse gases emission will be on the rise unless urgent measures are put in place. In the year 2006, the number of international tourists was about 846 million. They spent over USD 500 billion and air tickets are not included. This is an indication that tourism is expanding at a very high rate and if unchecked it will lead to more deterioration of climate.

Tourism being one of the largest and fastest growing economic sector is highly affected by climate. It is therefore mandatory that attention is paid to climatic changes as they have adverse effects toward the tourism, travel and hospitality industry. It is surprisingly how little attention has been paid towards climate change yet it affects tourism negatively.it is therefore important for the travel, hospitability and tourism industry to put in place various strategies to address issues concerning climate change as they affect these industries. For instance, hotels and resorts in the coastal areas are vulnerable to rising sea levels and the changing weather patterns for properties ranging from waterfront to high elevations. With such a large portion of assets situated in areas that are prone to these elements, there is a very high risk of losing these hotels and resorts among other assets in the occurrence of let’s say a massive storm. These storms are already happening in the United States and this has been a major setback to the tourism industry in the State. It may be difficult to secure insurance covers for these assets prone to the climate change elements due to the high geographic risk involved leading to skyrocketing of premiums as damage is perceived to be severe. However there are measures that may be taken by the tourism industry in conjunction with the hotel companies to address climate risks against these valuable assets. Companies such as Starwood hotels not only report their carbon emission and risks, they this disclosure as a chance to engage in talks with business partners about growth opportunities leading to higher profits margin. Gina Edner, who is the associate director of environmental sustainability said that her company receives so many requests for environmental information from business partners. All in all even the best planned strategies always have setbacks this is due to the fact that hotels possess assets that are immobile hence cannot be relocated in the face of climate change. To address this, future-thinking companies with properties located along the coastal areas may look for other opportunities in business such as investments in water-desalination technologies, or they may plan to set hotels well above the highest tide line. Programs to protect the nearby biodiversity from climate-sensitive ecosystems such as coral reefs, and seek alternative offerings for visitors that reduce dependency on sun, sand and surf activities. (Suarez, 2011)
Climate change also affects airlines which is a major facilitator of transporting tourist. The UN tourism organization, in their study reported that fuel comprises of 20-25 percent of direct operational costs of airlines. Due to changing weather patterns companies will have to change their habits as well as due to higher ticket prices. Changing weather patterns has led to variations in the choice of destinations and has caused higher losses due to cancelled flights that have to be rerouted due to tricky weather. This way airlines companies are advised to pursue new opportunities like piloting jets which are more efficient and investing in biofuels as well as other alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. If attention is paid to the recent climate science, carriers may be in a position to anticipate weather-pattern changes, improve their routing for efficiency, and increase services to emerging travel destinations, while scaling back to locations that are seeing reduced demand. (Suarez, 2011)
Tourism and travel industry is highly dependent on climate. In fact tourism might be the industry mostly known to be dependent on climate as all it operations revolve around the climate. From warm sunny, beachfront resorts, to majestic snowy mountains and turbulence-free flights nearly each and every aspect of the travel, hospitality and tourism industry is better off and records a higher profit in a stable and predictable weather pattern. In a region where negative climate change is not as drastic, Tourism and travel as well as hospitability industry is likely to thrive and these are places especially in higher latitudes and altitudes. This makes it necessary for tourism industry to address climate change issues. Majority of losses that are incurred in the tourism travel and hospitality industry arise as a result of unfavorable and unpredictable weather patterns. Hence for this industry to make more profits well planned strategies need to be put to place to address climate change. As much as the tourism industry tries to deal with climate change, this industry should make it their priority to conserve the environment. Environmental degradation is a cause of the unpredictable weather patterns and the climate change hence the tourism, travel and hospitability industry should conserve the environment as they highly depend on the climate for their success. Tourism, travel and hospitability industry should avoid littering of the environment with wastes and should use vehicles that use environmental friendly fuels or should be fitted with coolers that prevent the emission of harmful greenhouse gases into the environment. They should also engage themselves in productive environmental activities such as planting of trees and should avoid deforestation at all cost. This way climate change will be controlled for the benefit of the tourism, travel and hospitability industry.

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