Impact of climate change on tourism in world heritage sites: A case study from the Wet Tropics region of Australia

In a process that commenced with the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, the agreements that emanated from the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference indicate that for the first time there is global recognition at government level that climate change poses a serious threat to humanity. The success of international efforts to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change, and the ability of the destinations that rely on the continuing health of ecosystems they promote to adapt to predicted changes, will have a significant effect on the long term viability of many destinations. The urgency of this issue has become apparent in recent years at the macro scale with persistent reports of declining sea ice cover in the Artic, rapid melting of glaciers in many areas, coral bleaching, and more recently, of monthly temperatures that were the hottest ever recorded. On a micro scale, many ecosystems are likely to become less stable as temperature, wind, and precipitation patterns begin to change. Changes at both the macro and micro scales will affect the desirability of many protected areas and the destinations they support (Becken & Hay 2007).