Climate change is real — and we’re seeing it all around us
I was supposed to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and reach Tarifa, head to Madrid via Cordoba and catch my flight back home. I stayed stuck for three days, resulting in the cancelation of my hotel bookings, changed my ferry ticket three times and chewed my fingernails to the skin with anxiety.
Finally, on the third day of this nerve-racking uncertainty, I was at the port, where after a four-hour delay owing to bad weather, the ferry finally set sail. Meanwhile, I had an opportunity to meet scores of fellow passengers in the same predicament, who had been stranded for the past few days. A family was supposed to attend a wedding, which they missed, while another couple had promised their daughter they would be with her in the hospital when she delivered her first baby.
In early March, Europe struggled with extreme weather events as storm Emma collided with the cold snap, aptly called the Beast from the East, causing transport delays and disruptions. Air travelers were urged to check with their airline before setting out for the airport in case of flight delays and cancelations. Many train routes across Europe were closed owing to heavy snow on the tracks and the major highways had scores of motorists stranded overnight, again due to heavy snow, resulting in casualties.
Climate change is real, no matter what President Donald Trump and his like-minded aides in the White House have to say. Extreme weather events, such as rising temperatures, unprecedented cold spells, floods, more frequent hurricanes and storms and other environmental shifts, are not only affecting our crops, disease patterns, and health but also our travel plans. So next time you decide to pack your bags and head to an exotic location, think about climate change. A recent report in The Washington Post says that extreme heat because of climate change is likely to cause flight delays, cancelations and removal of passengers.
Climate change is predicted to have a significant impact on tourism across many parts of the world. Climate change and changing weather patterns at tourist destinations are already affecting tourist flows and behavior, especially in coastal tourism.
Hurricane Maria and Irma caused mass travel disruptions in the Southeast and the Caribbean. According to Euro Control, an organization devoted to improving air traffic management across Europe, “These are the kinds of events that climate change is expected to make more frequent and more intense.” During a powerful storm, high winds can damage control towers and other equipment, while floodwaters inundate airfields, terminals, and underground electrical facilities, causing power outages.It can have a detrimental effect on tourism. But let’s not forget that tourism is one of the biggest causes of the emission of greenhouse gases.
Dr. Mehreen Mujtaba
Other airports might run into trouble when blistering heat starts to melt the tarmac, as was seen in Phoenix, Arizona during the heatwave of 2016.
According to Ethan Coffel, a climate scientist at Columbia University, the aviation industry is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change because it doesn’t take much of a disturbance in the weather to cause delays and rerouted flights. Airplanes are operating on tight schedules; a small glitch in the smooth running of the system can cause mayhem.
In Pakistan, the tourism industry is already suffering because of the stigma of terrorism. However, climate change is also contributing to its woes. Increased melting of snow and glaciers resulting in floods, mud and mountain slides during the summer season cause disruptions in road transport to the northern areas. During the winter season, increased snowfall disrupts movement in higher elevations. Climate change is resulting in a change in the migratory habits and habitats of birds and other wildlife, effecting eco-tourism. Rising temperatures during winter are disturbing the snow cycle in the Karakorum, Himalayan and Hindu Kush mountain ranges, where local communities gain economic benefits from trophy hunting.
At the same time let us not forget that a rise in tourism in itself is contributing to emission of greenhouse gases. Tourism is one of the largest industries with a global economic contribution of more than $7.6 trillion in 2016. It is worth remembering that the Paris Agreement in the world charter for sustainable tourism reiterates that transport to destinations is the main contributor of these emissions. Hence a move toward low-emission transport systems paves a way for commitment to sustainability and responsible tourism, which helps to combat climate change.
A report on the Paris Climate Change Agreement and its implication for tourism stipulates that there is a need for the international tourism leadership to improve transport sector emission monitoring capacity, to foster greater collaboration on destination climate resilience and to accelerate technological, policy and social innovation to put tourism on a path to low carbon economy.
Hence, the role the tourism industry plays in mitigating climate change benefits its own agendas.
— Dr. Mehreen Mujtaba is a freelance consultant working in the area of environment and health. She has a keen interest in writing about climate change and its effects.
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point-of-view
