Tourism is one of the largest industries in America, primarily focusing on the country’s national parks, thanks to the abundance of outdoor activities and beautiful scenery they offer. However, you also need to know and understand the negative side of tourism. While tourists love exploring these parks, there is a rising concern about the degradation of these natural resources at the hands of tourists.
The current tourism landscape has several negative impacts on the environment, including land degradation, noise and air pollution, littering and the alternation of ecosystems. It is putting intense pressure on many natural resources through overconsumption. These resources used by the tourism industry include wood for fuel and building and water for cleaning, among others. But beyond resource consumption, it is also a leading cause of increased pollution in our great parks, and this is what we will discuss with you today.
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Pollution
One of the most significant concerns is the rise in pollution in national parks of America. There have been record visitations over the past few years, particularly after the pandemic, as more people began to appreciate the freedom of stepping outdoors. But this additional tourist surge has also increased litter complaints on trails and park sides.
Tourists, especially first-time visitors, do not understand the importance of preserving the natural habits. They generate a great deal of waste, leaving behind garbage, camping waste, tissue paper, and even oxygen cylinders. But that is not it; one of the major consequences of tourism is the increase in air travel. Roughly 60% of all tourism travel is done by air. The result is an increase in CO2 commissions, one of the leading causes of air pollution and climate change! The smog that develops in urban areas due to this pollution tends to flow by wind to our national parks over time, leading to poor air quality.
Studies performed over the past years conclude that the ozone levels of national parks match those of the country’s largest metropolitan areas. According to an article from the NPCA, 96% of America’s national parks are afflicted with air pollution.
Natural Habitat Loss
Tourism is also linked with increased natural habitat loss in our parks. To accommodate the surge of tourists, parks have been forced to build new recreational facilities, often clearing away acres of land and forests, leeching away the onsite resources, and degrading natural habitats in the process.
Moreover, when important habitats are destroyed for tourism development, it puts pressure on the region’s potentially endangered species. This is one of the top national park problems.
Water Resources
America’s most beautiful parks typically carry water bodies, some in the form of waterfalls and rivers and others in the form of sandy beaches. Though constant efforts are made to keep the waters clear, remote locations tend to have poor wastewater treatment in their recreational zones and campsites due to tourist activities.
This wastewater produced by tourists is discharged into the nearby water bodies, contaminating them with bacteria, leading to algae growth and indirectly damaging the natural wildlife. It is one of the biggest negative environmental impacts of tourism.
Final Thoughts: What Can We Do To Remedy This?
Our national parks are our heritage; they carry American history and culture and must be preserved at all costs. To remedy the negative impacts of tourism, there are several steps we must take to improve national park visitation.
- The first step is to eliminate the amount of single-use plastic sole at the parks. This is plastic used briefly and then tossed freely into the environment. Instead, we need to promote the use of reusable utensils through education.
- To reduce pollution, the Government must implement strict regulations on waste disposal within parks. Tourists visiting the parks should be encouraged to choose eco-friendly methods of transport.
- Moreover, we should think twice when mapping out our recreational sites so they blend well with the natural environment and resources rather than flatten them!