Polar Tourism

While doing an assignment for another class, I came across this video: Polar Tourism by AUT University (Auckland University of Technology). This video is relevant because it does not get more glacier themed then at the North & South poles.

Fun Facts from the video:

• Antarctica is a frozen continent surrounded by oceans, whereas the Arctic is a frozen ocean surrounded by continents. 
• Arctic melts 10 million square kilometres in the summer, which does not affect sea levels 
• Since the Antarctica is home to 90% of Earth's ice (29 million cubic kilometres), the oceans would rise by 65 metres should Antarctica melt. 
• In Antarctica, between January 2007-February 2009, four cruise ships ran aground and sunk, while a fifth hit an ice berg and sunk. 
• Cruise ships produce: 800,000 litres of Grey Water (from showers & sinks) a day; 114,000 litres of Black Water (untreated sewage) a day; and +50 tonnes of solid waste a week. All of which is potentially dumped into the ocean.

Sad thing is, even though the tours and tourists claim to be "environmentally aware",  the dumping done by cruise ships completely negates "being green", and as a result these tours and tourists are in fact guilty of "green washing" (saying they are environmentally friendly when they are not). 

On a more lighter note....

(from ICanHasCheezeburger.com)

As the video mentioned, tourism to the Arctic has been around for a long time. With the invention of the railroads and steamships, mass tourism to the Arctic has been thriving since the mid 1800s. Even Thomas Cook had Arctic tour packages at this time. Back then tourists were travelling to Alaska as well as the Scandinavian Arctic, but thanks to advances in technology tourists, for the most part, can now access all of the Arctic no matter what season. Antarctica, on the other hand, has only been receiving tourists since the late 1950s. However, in the last decades, land based tourists had increased by 757% (over 10 years) and ship-borne tourists increased by 430% (over 14 years).

According to GRID-Arendal, a collaborative partner with United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), there are five polar tourism markets: mass market (site seeing); sport fishing & hunting market; ecotourism market; adventure tourism market; and culture & heritage tourism market. Each market segment has different needs and expectations while on expedition. However one thing that is common across each market segment is the environmental impacts associated with polar tourism.  Majority of the impacts are associated with the wildlife and their habitat. With the changing climate these are the only habitable areas left for these ice dwelling creatures.

Despite the negative impacts surrounding polar tourism, there is one positive impact: education. Visitors to these destinations not only become aware of the need to protect these regions, but they also become more aware of other sensitive areas in the world and 60% of them (according to the video) are motivated to do something about it. The more educated people are about an issue, the more likely they will assist in resolving it.

Sources

GRID-Arendal/UNEP: Tourism in the Polar Regions

Glaciers in the Andes

According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization), the glaciers in the Andes Mountains are also being affected by climate change. This mountain range runs along the western side of South America and consists of the world's largest volcanoes. The majority of the glaciers in this mountain range occupy the southern portion near Chile.

Major Landforms of South America (from WorldAtlas.com)

These glaciers provide water to the region as well as maintains the mountains ecosystem. The runoff is used for power generation, agriculture and many other uses. As the glaciers retreat, the water supply significantly increases which impacts the Andes region. The melting water floods meadows creating glacier lakes, which can overflow and flood surrounding villages.

In 1991, a lake was formed in Qori Kalis, Peru, and in 2006 it flooded the valley as a result of an ice avalanche. By 2007, this lake covered 84 acres (34 hectares) and was 200 feet (61 meters) deep.

Qori Kalis Glacier. (A) Retreat, 1963-205. (B) Records of 7 Andean glaciers. (C) Photoed retreat, 1978-2005 (from pnas.org)

Currently, the Andean Member States are working with two branches of UNESCO (Man & the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, and the International Hydrological Programme (IHP)) in order to bring together decision makers and researchers to address the issues. Their main goals are to "identify research and policy needs, specifically:

• integrate the knowledge on the impact of Climate Change on future availability of melt water from glaciers and its effects on biodiversity and land use, and
• formulate strategies for underpinning future policy actions with regard to sustainable economic development." 

A workshop was hosted in Lima, Peru on May 29th-30th 2012, to address the issues. However the outcome of this workshop was not presented in the article. 

So what does this mean for tourism? Well, for one, the changing landscape ruins the aesthetic appeal of the region. However, the major issue for tourism is the flooding. Floods damage agriculture, infrastructure and landscape. How are the locals expected to take care of tourists, if they cannot take care of themselves? 

Sources 

UNESCO: Impacts of Glacier Retreat in the Andes: International Multidisciplinary Network for Adaptation Strategies

National Geographic: Mountain Glaciers Melting Faster Than Ever, Expert Says

Athabasca Glacier

Every year over half a million people travel to the Columbia Icefield to stand on ice that is as thick as the Eiffel Tower is tall. And every year the glacier moves forward 15m but melts 25m. In the not so distant future, soon there will be no glaciers at all.

For the next couple of weeks I will be researching melting glaciers and their affects on tourism, as per the assignment for my Environmental Issues in Tourism class.

For those that do not think climate change is here, take a look at the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefield. It wasn't too long ago, the late 1800s to be exact, that the toe of the glacier was across the road where the parking lot for the Icefield Centre is now.

There are piles of dirt in the parking lot to mark where the glacier was. These piles of dirt are known as annual or push moraines. As the glacier moves forward, it picks up debris and brings it along. Then as the glacier recedes, the debris is left in its wake leaving moraines in the Forefield. Also in the Forefield are markers pointing out where the toe of the glacier was over the past +100 years.

This is one of the most recent markers. The snow in the background is the current (technically 2011) location of the toe of the glacier and the white specs in front of the snow are pylons indicating the safety boundary. This photo just goes to show how quickly the glacier is disappearing.

Another indicator of the shrinking glacier, are the lateral moraines. These show how high/thick the glacier once was. The Shuttle Road is built upon the lateral moraine, and shifts as the glacier/moraine moves. In order to get onto the glacier itself, the Ice Explorers have to drive down the lateral moraine which is a 32% grade hill.

Now some of you might ask, it's a glacier. So what? How does this relate to tourism? Well, this area is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific & Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site and people come from all over the world to visit this attraction. When I worked here in 2011, the majority of tour groups were Australian, Chinese, and Korean. However, there were the smaller groups of Japanese tourists, Germans, and of course English. For the most part, the tours run every 15-30 minutes with a maximum of 56 passengers per tour. Depending on the time of day, there can be 4 sometimes 5 tours going out onto the glacier. But usually it's only 2 or 3.

Also, no where else in the world are you going to see these Ice Explorers. There are only 23 of them in existence. Period. 23 Ice Explorers. 22 of them are owned by Brewster (the parent company of the Columbia Icefield), most of which are in use, and the 23rd is currently in the Antarctic doing explorations with the US Army or something like that.

The Columbia Icefield is one of the "Must See Destinations" in the Canadian Rockies. Even though technically the tour is on the Athabasca Glacier. But it is apart of the Columbia Icefield and connects via the "headwall".

So if you ever find yourself on the Alberta side of the Canadian Rockies, check out the Columbia Icefield...before it melts away. More information about the Columbia Icefield, can be found at http://www.explorerockies.com/columbia-icefield/