Climate change a threat to Aussie tourism
SYDNEY: Many of Australia’s iconic natural attractions such as beaches, reefs and national parks are under growing threat from climate change, putting the nation’s tourism industry and species diversity at risk, a new study said.
Heatwaves, storms, rising sea levels and coastal erosion are increasing risks to the nation’s A$40bil (RM122.8bil) tourism industry – its second largest export earner after iron ore, said the report released on Thursday by environmental advocacy group the Climate Council.
The sector employs nearly 600,000 people, or about 5% of the nation’s workforce.
The council said Australia’s tourism industry was extremely vulnerable, mainly due to its reliance on nature-based attractions that were already feeling the impact of rising sea levels and increasing extreme weather events.
It said the top five attractions for international visitors were beaches, wildlife, the Great Barrier Reef, wilderness areas and national parks, and that some destinations could become “no-go” zones during peak season, for example, due to ever increasing temperatures.
The climate impacts would be widespread, especially in the northern half of the country.
For example, the Great Barrier Reef, Australia’s most valuable tourist icon, suffered catastrophic coral bleaching caused by record hot ocean temperatures in 2016-17.
Large areas of the reef in the north and central sections are now a ghostly white. Extreme coral bleaching could be the “new normal” by the 2030s, the report said, meaning a significant drop in fish abundance and coral diversity.
The reef also faces the risk of damage from more intense cyclones.
The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory and other tourist destinations in inland Australia also face increasing extreme heat and water scarcity.
By 2030, the Red Centre could experience over 100 days above 35°C every year (19 days more than the current average), with that number rising over subsequent decades.
“Tourists succumbing to heat is bad for business,” said Dr Liz Hanna of the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University in Canberra.
“The extra heat from global warming will further reduce the tourist season and make some enterprises unviable.”
Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Cairns, Darwin, Fremantle and Adelaide are all projected to have at least a 100-fold increase in the frequency of coastal flooding events.
The study said the federal and state governments had underplayed or ignored climate change risks to tourism and that many jobs were now at risk.