By now, we’ve all seen the tragic images from the Australia bush fires: koalas wearing bandages on their burned hands, kangaroos silhouetted against a backdrop of flames. My mind can’t begin to fathom what it means to have lost one billion animals.
In addition to this unspeakable ecological loss, Australia’s fires are causing losses for the tourism and events industry as well. The Australian Tourism Export Council estimates the industry will lose $4.5 billion by the end of 2020 due to cancellations and lost business.
It’s understandable — who wants to send their group to a destination where the natural beauty is clouded by smoke and the air is unsafe to breathe?
One big question that has been raised by this disaster is, “Did climate change cause these fires?” The short answer is no: climate change doesn’t ignite wildfires. However, according to Yale’s Climate Connections program, “climate change contributes to more and bigger wildfires in a variety of ways.” These factors include longer periods of high temperatures in the spring and summer and changes to precipitation patterns that lengthen the fire season.
Similar conditions exacerbated the recent wildfires in California. Sonoma County’s tourism industry is struggling to rebound after losing multiple wineries and two major hotels to fires since 2017.
Other extreme weather events are intensified by climate change as well. In September 2019, Tropical Storm Imelda flooded major roadways and closed Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. A study from World Weather Attribution determined that due to the influence of climate change, Imelda generated 18% more precipitation than would have otherwise been expected from this type of storm.
What does this mean for the events industry?
First, it means event professionals must be prepared to adapt to the effects that more frequent and extreme weather will have on our events. Some ways you can adapt are to:
- research what types of extreme weather are likely in the regions your events are located
- discuss contingency plans with your event destinations
- consider having a virtual event plan as a backup in the event of cancellation
- create a robust safety plan so you can be prepared to conduct an organized evacuation if needed.
Second, it means we should do all we can to reduce the greenhouse gases emitted by our events to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. We can’t avoid all of the effects of climate change, because they’re already happening. However, the potential future effects are still in flux, and they range from “bad” to “catastrophic.” By taking action to reduce emissions, we can prevent the most extreme and harmful scenarios from coming to fruition.
How can you get started? Explore my article about concrete ways your event can fight climate change, and consider making carbon offsets available to your attendees during registration.