The essay entitled " Impact of Climate Change inthe Himalayas and Tourism" was submitted in a essay competition of university students during Everest Golden Jublee Celebration in 2013. This essary stood in the third position.
Impact of Climate Change in the Himalayas and
Tourism
- By Dipak Bastakoti
·
A national TV
broadcasted in its one of the program recently that small lakes and lagoons
located inside Chitwan National Park are disappearing. It results the harsh
environment for wild animals living in that area.
·
In another similar
report, it was mentioned that wild animals in Langtang National Park are
reported to have changed their habitat area due to changing pattern of their
previous habitant.
·
Appa Sherpa, the
most famous mountaineer once said that in future mountain peaks of the Himalayas
including Mt. Everest would be difficult or even impossible to climb.
·
President of
Maldives organized a cabinet meeting underwater and Nepal government held a
cabinet meeting in Kalapatthar (approximately at the height of 17,192 ft.)
to attract the attention of the world towards them.
·
In May 2012,
sudden and unexpected off - season debris flood in Seti River (Annapurna region)
claimed many lives.
·
Above mentioned out of the ordinary actions and
experiences are few examples that we have been noticing in recent years and
decades. They indicate us that this beautiful world we are living is challenged
by something. Human and animals activities are being affected ruthlessly by
various stuffs around us. The major reason of those eccentric activities are
said to be originated from climate change which is experienced in recent
decades.
Climate
change & effects on us
Climate is an average condition of certain place
over a number of years. World Meteorological Organization (WMO) labels 30 years
period as a standard period to determine the climatic condition of any
particular region. In a narrower sense climate roughly means average weather.
Climate is determined by the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric
pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count and other
meteorological elemental measurements. Over the last century, release of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap additional heat which affect global
climate. In the last 25 years, the rate of global warming has increased at over
0.18 degree Celsius per decade.
Global warming is caused by human activities as
well as from natural means. Major natural cause is the release of Methane gas
from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in
the earth’s atmosphere. It is believed that natural climate cycle also occurs
in the earth in every 40,000 years which bring some changes in climate. But,
human activities are making the most damage in our climate. Pollution from
different way (burning of fossil fuel, mining, use of transportation, various
chemicals etc.) causes the change in climate largely. Increase of population also contributes to
climate change and global warming since the use of transportation, natural
recourses increases.
The affects of change in climate and global
warming are experienced in various places and ways. The sea level has been
experiencing the rise with a threat of sinking various islands. Glaciers in the
Himalayas are melting rapidly. Unexpected rain, wind and flood are happening
elsewhere. Climatic conditions are extreme such as dry areas are being dryer
and wet being wetter. It also affects in health issues, like clean air, safe
drinking water, sufficient food production etc. According to World Health Organization
(WHO) , urban air pollution causes about 1.2 million more deaths every year.
Tourism and Impact of Climate change on Tourism
Tourism is the most crucial industry for many
countries in the world now. According to the United Nations World Tourism
Organization (UNWTO) there are more than 1 billion international tourists’
arrivals in 2012. Tourism contributes with millions of dollars in the global
economy along with large numbers of employment worldwide.
Nepal, nestled in the lap of majestic Himalayas
having two giants with emerging economies in north and south is one of the most
beautiful and prosperous county in the world for tourists and tourism
development. Nepal is adorned by the longest Himalayan range with many highest
peaks of the world including Mt. Everest ( 8,848 m. / 29,028 ft ) in the north.
The whole Himalayan region is dotted with beautiful glacial lakes. Glaciers and
these lakes are source of all rivers flowing down marvelously to the southern
plains contributing all people living the basin of these rivers.
Due to its diverse geography, natural and
cultural heritages, Nepal is the most popular country for tourism. Adventure
activities in the Himalayas such as Trekking, Mountaineering, Cannoning, White
water rafting etc are the most popular. Large number of adventure tourists
visit Nepal for aforesaid activities each year. Nepal received total of 735,932
tourists in the year 2011 and the number is gradually increasing year by year.
Tourism is being affected globally due to
changes in climate. We can take an
example of Maldives. Each year thousands of tourists visit Maldives for the
coral sands, blue water and other amenities of Island and it is feared to collapse
in future if the ratio of rising of sea level continues. There are other many
countries in the world which are being affected by changing climatic patters
such as dry season, flood etc.
ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated
Mountain Development - a Kathmandu based research centre) published a data
showing that melts down of snow and glaciers in the Himalayan region are rapid.
According to the same report the warming in the Himalayan region is much higher
than global average. Increasing and decreasing rainfall pattern makes dry
season more dryer and wet season wetter making the life more difficult living
in the region.
Nepal is a playground of adventure lovers for
trekking, mountaineering, rafting, cannoning, paragliding etc. The entire
Himalaya plays the most pivotal role for these activities. We cannot imagine,
how badly our tourism industry will be affected if there is no snow on the
Himalaya. Where can we operate the world’s popular mountaineering activities if
there is no snow and charm to climb the mountain peaks? If there is no water in
the river or always flooded how and where will we operate rafting trips? And if
there are no White Mountain peaks on our head to decorate, who will be visiting
us and our Himalayan region?
Thus, affects of climate change in long run will
be the highest on us and our country. If the current ratio of climate change
continues and we do not act against this change on time, our identity will be
endangered as a country with the highest peak on the earth, best rivers for
rafting, best trekking trails of the world etc.
What we can do to save our Tourism
“Adaptation” refers to prepare by society or
ecosystem for the adjustment of the climate change in future. It can be
guarding against negative impacts or taking any good opportunity which resulted
from climate change. Naturally, it has been proved that human and other living
beings have strong capacity to adapt and act for environmental changes. Earlier
statement in the first paragraph regarding the migration of wild animals in
Langtang National Park is good example of efforts taken by wild animals to
adapt changes. But, if we cannot provide similar shelter and environment for
those animals nearby, then they will be endangered and collapse forever. The
ratio of change is rapid and higher now than earlier.
Principally, developing countries are suffering
and will be suffered more in future from action of developed nations who are
responsible for higher carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. Our Himalaya will
suffer more from these activities and changes. Since, we will be the one to be
more affected by climate change; we must keep our eyes open, be vigilant and
contribute from our part as much as we can. Reduce, Recycle and Reuse of
wastages that we produce daily is one of the major means of decreasing carbon and
other greenhouse gases - the key contributor to climate change. Along with this
we can imply various other methods such as use less water, use CFL lights,
plant a tree, aware other people to conserve etc. Deforestation is contributing
almost one-fourth of global carbon emissions. Use of renewable energies (solar,
bio gas, hydro electricity) in the rural areas and reforestation will help to
reduce warming sustainably. We are poor in infrastructure, but we still can use
our existing infrastructure wisely to lower down the level of pollution.
Demonstrations in front of the world conferences,
attracting more funds to be spent on conferences and meetings held in capital
city, coining various councils, adding more departments in the ministry of
Environment are not good enough measures to protect the Himalaya and tourism in
Nepal. The cabinet meeting in Kalapatthar ahead of World Climate Summit (2009)
in Copenhagen might have drawn attention of the world, but we will have to accomplish
more actions to save our heritage. Mountain Alliance Initiatives (MAI) is also
a good start to attract world’s attention towards the threat in the mountains
caused by climate change and global warming but not enough. We cannot imagine
that other people, country support us for our benefits.
Recently,
we are destroying Chure Bhawar region in large. We are active in deforestation
all over the country. A condition of our road in Kathmandu is dreadful. Most of
the public vehicles that run in the city of Kathmandu is a good joke. River
Bagmati and Bishnumati which flows in the heart of our capital city Kathmandu
can reflect our true sense of environment protection, awareness level and
action against pollution. After all the
innocent people living in rural and mountain area are being affected and will
be affected more in future by such activities that urban people are carrying on.
People from the world do not know where Nepal is
but they know where Mt. Everest is. Nature has gifted us such a fantastic
heritage for our identity which can be positioned us in world map easily. To
save this identity, we all stakeholders must put our strong commitment and
efforts together. Every year we
calculate how much money was generated in revenue from Everest Climbing permits.
But, are we spending even a minimal portion to save our Everest for our future
generation? I assume no. We will have
to save our environment, Himalayas, Everest and Tourism at large on our own.
Act today. Plant a tree. Drive less. Use good standard vehicle. Aware yourself
and your society.
*** The End ***
Sources :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
http://www.irinnews.org
http://himcca.org
http://www.csmonitor.com/
http://www.ecotourism.org
http://www.un.org
http://forestaction.org
http://library.thinkquest.org/J003411/causes.htm
http://moste.gov.np/
Bastakoti D. ( 2012 ) “
A Study of Marketing Networks & Channels of NTB to Promote Nepalese
Tourism” Unpublished Thesis ( T.U.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted By ;
Name: Dipak Bastakoti
Nepal Law Campus ( T.
U.)
Level : LLB First Year
Roll No: 1017 / 069
Date of Birth: 2033 / 06
/ 19
Submitted to ;
Mt. Everest Diamond
Jubilee Celebrations Secretariat
Nepal Tourism Board
Bhrikuti Mandap
Kathmandu, Nepal
Email:
everest@ntb.org.np
No comments:
Post a Comment