At first glance, there may not be that obvious of a connection between them, but when you closely examine climate change, tourism, and the economy of the Adirondacks, things become a little more clear. Each of these factors affects the other in ways you’ve never thought of before.

To start, we must understand how climate change and tourism are connected. Climate change, if you didn’t know already, is causing a rise in sea level. This rise in sea level actually makes for more severe storms. A specific example of this rise in sea level causing more severe storms is how “the rainfall from Hurricane Harvey was 15 percent more intense and three times as likely to occur due to human-induced climate change” (Extreme weather gets a boost from climate change). How does this relate to tourists? Tourists are definitely the ones contributing to climate change, but of course it’s not just tourists in the Adirondacks, but everyone worldwide. The connection that goes below the surface is how this bad weather affects the flow of tourists into the region.

During hurricane Irene, in the Adirondacks, “damage forced the closure of many popular hiking trails, washed out foot bridges and dams and essentially cut off some mountain areas just before the normally busy Labor Day weekend” (Carola). This is the result of a storm, and to think how climate change is making them worse, who knows what could happen in the future. If these storms continue to worsen, trails could close for longer periods of time. The worst case scenario would be if these storms got to a point where large masses of trees and other parts of the landscape were destroyed. Imagine what things would be like then. Tourists would have no reason to enter the park anymore, as the whole point of making a trip to the Adirondacks is to appreciate the beauty of the land.

(This image illustrates the destruction of Hurricane Irene in the Adirondacks)

Now that we understand the relationship between climate change and tourism, the connection from these two to the economy of the land is simple. As we all know, there is always a large influx of tourists coming into the park and stimulating the economy. This is great in the way of money being made and keeping the area alive from an economic standpoint. Now, if the previous situations were to occur, and the land doesn’t attract as many tourists as it once did from the storms that are worsening, what would this mean for the people of the Adirondacks? It would be hard to say that they would be fine as the tourism industry is so big when it comes to a place like the Adirondacks.

When you examine the effects of climate change, and what it does to a place that seems important, things become scary and a little more real to you. Hopefully it will never get to the point where the integrity of the land is ruined, but the path we are on doesn’t seem like a bright one.

Works Cited

Carola, Chris. “Storms Deliver Blow to Adirondacks, Catskills Tourism.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 16 Sept. 2011, https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna44549677. 

“Extreme Weather Gets a Boost from Climate Change.” Environmental Defense Fund, https://www.edf.org/climate/climate-change-and-extreme-weather. 

“Remembering Irene, 10 Years Later: The Flooding of Styles Brook.” The Adirondack Almanack, 2 Aug. 2021, https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2021/08/remembering-irene-10-years-later-the-flooding-of-styles-brook.html.