How many natural disasters and extreme weather events do we have to see and experience before it’s too late to take action? Just days into 2025, communities around the world have already experienced devastation from wildfires in LA, an earthquake in Tibet, flooding in the UK, a heatwave in Australia and floods in Saudi Arabia. Climate change affects travel by destroying biodiversity, ecosystems, habitats and destinations, rendering them inhospitable for visitors.
What causes climate change? (In a nutshell)
At this point in our lives, sadly, climate change is a part of our daily vocabulary. The disconnect, however, lies in the gap between education and action.
For years, scientists have been telling us that human-made carbon emissions are the core driver of climate change – and there’s plenty of factual, scientific data to back it up.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the burning of coal, natural gas, and oil for electricity and heat is the largest single source of global greenhouse gas emissions. Additional emissions also come from things like agriculture, deforestation, transportation, food waste and much more.
You don’t need to be a scientist to see the impacts of climate change – we see it and feel it every day in extreme weather fluctuations and natural disasters. There isn’t a single person in the world who isn’t impacted by climate change.
We’re all connected. It’s in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink and the purchases we make.
How climate change affects travel
The worse climate change gets, the more frequent extreme weather events take place. Those events have the potential to destroy a destination. When that happens, tourism changes drastically, with the potential to disappear overnight.
Volcanic eruptions, floods and wildfires can move exotic destinations, beaches and iconic cities like Los Angeles from the top of your vacation list to the bottom very quickly.
When communities that rely on tourism see a sudden loss of business, there’s a dangerous economic ripple effect. We saw it during the pandemic when travel became nonexistent, creating a surge in unemployment.
When jobs are lost, income decreases and spending habits are affected. Essentials like education, food and clothing become luxuries as families reprioritize how to spend the little money they have.
In addition, when thousands of structures crumble or burn down to the ground, everything inside of them, like plastics, toxic chemicals and metals, dissipates into the harmful air we breathe.
Those contaminants also feed into our water supply and crops, where we will eventually consume them, which is not exactly a ringing endorsement for your next vacation.
What can we do about it?
The good news is that we have solutions and know what to do. The main priorities are to limit warming (read: eliminate the use of fossil fuels) and sequester as much existing carbon as possible.
While legislation will be key to leading us in the transition away from fossil fuels into renewable energy, the road is long and complicated. When it comes to travel, aviation is the big offender, so decarbonizing aviation with biofuels is crucial.
Individually, learning what your carbon footprint is, how to calculate it and how to decrease it, however, is a great place to start understanding your relationship to climate change.
We can make choices every day to limit our impact on the world. We don’t need any additional proof that it’s time to reframe the way we think, the things we purchase and consume, and how we live our daily lives.
That includes how we travel. Travara’s mission is to make it easier for you to travel better. From deciding where to go, where to stay, how to get there and why you should care, Travara is here to be your resource when it comes to responsible, regenerative and sustainable travel. Our priorities are our footprint, culture and community.
How to limit your impact on the climate when you travel
- Take ground transportation when possible
- If you have to fly, fly better
- Book accommodations that consider their footprint and support local cultures and communities
- Book tours with local guides and tour providers that invest in the local community
- Choose less congested destinations to avoid overtourism
- Travel off-peak
- Get local suggestions and do as the locals do
- Support small, locally-owned businesses, always
- Ask yourself why you travel and what you want to take away from each trip to ensure it is as memorable as possible
MICHELLE ARELLANO MARTIN
