Global Warming Threatens Holiday Hotspots

Imagine holidaying on an underwater beach, or diving where the corals have lost their vibrant colours. A safari without wildlife would be dismal, and skiing without snow just plain impossible. In March 2009, 2,500 scientists met in Copenhagen to discuss climate change, concluding that the situation is far worse than previously reported.

Top 10 “doomed”  holiday destinations

Here are ten holiday hotspots across the globe that are already suffering the effects of climate change and global warming.

1.  The Arctic Region: Travellers venture to the Arctic to experience a vast icy wilderness and spot hardy wildlife, but the region’s natural attractions could be threatened in the future with ice melting and vanishing species. The waters of Canada’s Hudson Bay, for example, are now ice-free for three weeks longer than they were thirty years ago, affecting the hunting ground of polar bears, which prefer to hunt on sea ice.

2.    Bangkok, Thailand: Bangkok, a major tourism hub for southeast Asia, only rests about 3-5 feet above sea level and its outskirts are already suffering shoreline erosion. With the Gulf rising by about a tenth of an inch a year and poorly constructed buildings sinking, some experts predict the Thai capital could be underwater in the next 15 to 20 years if global warming continues unchecked.

3.    The Alps, Europe: Glaciers are retreating in warm, dry winters and hotter summers caused by global warming, and although snowfall in the 2008-2009 ski season was substantial, overall recent years have seen less snow at low altitudes, and receding glaciers and melting permafrost higher up - with a significant impact on winter tourism activities.

4.    Nepal: Nepal is already watching its vast glaciers melt and glacial lakes expand, and is seeing disturbed weather patterns. Overall the country now gets less rain, more droughts, and warmer temperatures – and some ‘freak’ weather, such as unseasonal Springtime snowstorms that have baffled trekking tourists.

5.    The Maldives: The lowest and flattest country in the world is suffering coastal erosion, and could find itself submerged if sea levels carry on rising. This extreme prediction is a devastating prospect for residents, and bad news for the tourists who descend on its soft white beaches and warm waters each year.

6.    Australia’s Great Barrier Reef: Coral reefs in some of the world’s top diving spots are losing their vibrant appeal as a result of ‘coral reef bleaching’. Stress caused by higher sea temperatures triggers corals to expel the algae that live in their outer tissues - leaving behind just ghostly limestone skeletons. A report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that the Great Barrier Reef could become “functionally extinct” by 2030.

7.    The Amazon Rainforest, Brazil: Massive parts of the Amazon rainforest are already disappearing thanks to logging, but on top of this the region has seen rises in temperature and less rainfall which could cause even more shrinking of the rainforest, and threaten the survival of entire species.

8.    Lake Balaton, Hungary: One of Hungary’s biggest tourists attractions, people flock to Lake Balaton for scenery and watersports. But with an average depth of just 2-3 metres, the lake is vulnerable to hotter, drier summers predicted for the future. With falling water levels, pollution will become more concentrated, algae will spread, and a dip in the lake will be far less appealing.

9.    Malta: This Mediterranean island enjoys a mild climate which attracts many sun-seekers, but it already struggles to source enough drinking water to go around. With more than half produced by desalination plants, shortages will become a bigger problem as temperatures and sea levels continue to rise, with salt water intrusion affecting drinking water and food production.

10.  Kerala, India: Kerala in southern India draws tourists to its yoga retreats, sandy beaches, Ayurvedic massage centres and beautiful Backwater regions. But Kerala is flat, low-lying and very susceptible to even small rises in sea levels. Beach erosion can already be seen in resorts like Kovalam, and scientists predict that by 2030 many beach establishments could be inundated.

Climate change is set to remain the hot topic of 2009 and is already picking up concerned coverage around the blogosphere

Related posts

Nothing Interesting - climate change debate

The Shelf -  saving the planet