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Haleigh Finucane

Wharton

RC 2001

18 April 2019

The Environment and Recreation

When you think of outdoor recreation, you cannot deny the importance of the

environment on its success​.​ While the climate change debate continues to be in full swing, it is

also brought to attention in the recreation community​.​ Like many other industries, outdoor

recreation will become directly affected by major changes in the environment, which leads to

many debates on what should be done to keep the industry afloat​.​ In this essay, I will discuss the

issues at hand, and what people argue should be done about this​.

Outdoor recreation activities are heavily oriented around the seasons and weather patterns

during each season​.​ For hundreds of years, there have been set seasons for different recreation

activities, based on when the weather was best suited for each activity​.​ However, as there seems

to be more extreme weather in place, this throws off the seasonal industries such as skiing​.​ When

the weather patterns become more unpredictable, especially during the winter months, winter

activities are drastically affected, “​Snow seasons are shrinking and commercial operators are

seeing many more lost days in peak seasons because of highly unpredictable weather and shorter

shoulder seasons as well​.​ The economic impact of a low snow year may total $1 billion to $2

billion annually, according to James Rogers, senior director of sustainability for The North Face,

the international outdoor clothing and gear manufacturer​.​” (Dolesh 7)​.​ While this may not seem
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like a big deal, this loss of income will continue to harm the economies of many towns and cities

that rely on the tourism that the skiing and winter sports industry brings into their towns​.​ Many

small mountain towns across the country and the world are very financially dependent on the

gathering of tourists, “For mountain towns across the nation, snow is currency​.​” (Semanco)​.

While there may be sporadic snowstorms that happen during the winter, the snowsports industry

greatly relies on a consistent snowfall to make money, “Skier visits were 5​.​5 million lower than

average during the five lowest snow years​.​” (Semanco)​.​ As the climate continues to change and

become even more unpredictable, the snowsport economy will suffer more​.​ Since tourist dollars

play such a big role in the support of resorts, restaurants, bars, grocery stores, sporting goods

stores, and gas stations, losing this money will result in a great loss of hundreds of jobs in one

location alone, leading to the downfall of many cities foundations. This is not just an issue in

isolated mountain towns​.​ In the united states, the snowsports industry is a major money maker in

states all over the north and those surrounding mountain ranges​.

The impact of climate change is not just being seen in the winter months​.​ Summer

outdoor recreation is also being severely impacted by the drastic weather​.​ The effects of a

considerable warmer planet will hurt the south greatly, while northern states could actually see

some benefits for summer recreation, “​So, milder winters and warmer “shoulder” months such as

March and October will induce people to go outside, while hotter summers will do little to deter

outdoor enthusiasts​.​ Our analysis pertains to only warm-weather recreation (e​.​g​.,​ cycling,

running, hiking, and so forth)​.​ Winter recreation—which will be impacted negatively by warmer
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temperatures—is not captured in our analysis​.​” (Chan 6)​. ​In the north, this logic will most likely

help the summer outdoor recreation economy, which will really be essential with a huge loss up

north in the winter recreation industry​.​ However, this does not mean that winter will disappear

completely and be replaced with summer, so the extra money made would in no way compare to

the loss of money in the winter industry​. ​While the warmer weather could improve summer

recreation up north, the same is not at all true for the southern regions of America, “​Maine may

benefit from milder winters​.​ Florida, by contrast, could face major losses, as deadly heat waves

flare up in the summer and rising sea levels eat away at valuable coastal properties​.​” (Plumer 1)​.

As climate change leads to higher average temperatures, it also influences the rise in sea levels,

especially in lower elevation areas​.​ With the rise of sea levels already drastically impacting the

ability of the city to function, and without a doubt the recreation and tourist industry will be

affected​.

From the multitudes of scientific evidence available, it should be clear that something has

to be done to prevent the loss of this industry​.​ However in the current political climate, climate

change is a taboo and highly debated issue​.​ The debate seems to be still about whether climate

change is real or not, and not how it should be solved, “Dealing with the massive implications

and complexities of climate change requires not only greater cooperation and understanding

between government, industry and researchers,but also between physical and social scientists,

those who understand climate and those who understand the tourism and recreation phenomena​.

Without the development of such relationships our understanding and response to climate change
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and tourism relationships are bound to stay piecemeal​.​” (Hall)​.​ In the industry of outdoor

recreation the argument should not really about whether climate change is real or not, but what

should be done about it​.​ At this point, the extreme weather effects and season changes are

already major problems in the industry and we must begin to figure out how to plan for extreme

weather and prevent further damage to the planet​.

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Works Cited

Hall, Colin Michael, and James E. S. Higham. Tourism, Recreation and Climate Change.

Channel View Publications, 2005.

“The National Recreation and Parks Association.” ​NRPA​,

www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2017/october/climate-change-is-changing-the-f

ace-of-outdoor-recreation/.

“How Climate Change Will Impact The Snowsports Industry.” ​POW,​ 7 Feb. 2019,

protectourwinters.org/how-climate-change-will-impact-the-snowsports-industry/.

“How Will Climate Change Affect Outdoor Recreation?” ​Resources for the Future​,

www.resourcesmag.org/common-resources/how-will-climate-change-affect-outdoor-recr

eation/.

Plumer, Brad, and Nadja Popovich. “As Climate Changes, Southern States Will Suffer More

Than Others.” ​The New York Times,​ The New York Times, 29 June 2017,

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/29/climate/southern-states-worse-climate-effects.

html.

E. Askew, Ashley & Bowker, J.M.. (2018). Impacts of Climate Change on Outdoor Recreation

Participation: Outlook to 2060. The Journal of Park and Recreation Administration. 36.

97-120. 10.18666/JPRA-2018-V36-I2-8316.