Tourism industry faces rising climate change threat

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Tourism currently accounts for 5 percent of global emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, and the sector's contribution to global warming is expected to jump as increasing numbers of people travel, particularly by air.

"The tourism industry is going to double between now and 2020. We cannot afford that the emissions also double in the same time," World Tourism Organisation Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli told journalists during a conference in the Swiss resort of Davos.

In a report prepared for the three-day meeting of scientists, politicians and industry officials, the U.N. agency said global warming may extend the summers of northern countries such as Canada, Britain and Russia, and create new opportunities for travel in polar regions.

But most sites, particularly in poorer and island nations where tourism can generate up to 40 percent of economic output, were seen at risk from rising world temperatures and resultant environmental shifts.

"There are few other economic activities that are so dependent on climate as tourism," the World Tourism Organisation report noted.

"All destinations will have to adapt at some level," lead author Daniel Scott told the Davos conference.

Beach tourism and winter sports have already felt the pinch of rising temperatures, which scientists say will cause more hot days, strong winds, tropical storms, intense rainfall, droughts and wildfires, the Madrid-based agency said.

Many coastal areas have seen beach erosion from storms, more algae blooms, and jellyfish infestations because of warmer than normal sea temperatures. Mountain resorts have coped with less snow and shorter ski seasons.

THREAT TO SCUBA DIVING

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