Impact of climate change on Tibet tourism based on tourism climate index

doi:10.1007/s11442-019-1706-y

Abstract

Abstract:

Climate change is an important factor affecting the sustainable development of tourist destinations. Based on the monthly observation data of the main meteorological stations on the ground in Tibet from 1960 to 2015, this paper constructs a tourism climate index model. This index is used to quantitatively evaluate the tourism climate changes in Tibet, and investigate the impact of climate change on tourism. The results show that from 1960 to 2015, the temperature in Tibet increased by 1.35°C, and the tourism climate index changed significantly, especially in the regions of Changtang, Ngari and Kunlun Mountain. The fluctuation of temperature-humidity index, wind-chill index and index of clothing of these areas was larger than that of other regions. The changes of each index in different months are different, where spring observes larger changes while summer observes smaller changes. The tourism climate index in northwestern Tibet has increased, and the climate comfort period is expanding. In southeastern Tibet, the comfort level has declined and the comfort level in the central part has been slowly increasing. The comfort index in the southeastern part of Tibet has gradually declined, and the comfort index in central Tibet has slowly increased. According to the comprehensive assessment method including temperature and humidity index, wind-chill index, index of clothing and altitude adaptability index, the types of tourism climate index in Tibet can be divided into reduced, low-speed growth, medium-speed growth and rapid growth. Different regions should adopt alternative tourism products, strengthen energy conservation and emission reduction technology applications and green infrastructure construction, and appropriately control the scale of tourism activities so as to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change on tourist destinations.

Key words: climate change, tourism climate index, adaptation countermeasures, Tibet

ZHONG Linsheng, YU Hu, ZENG Yuxi. Impact of climate change on Tibet tourism based on tourism climate index[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(12): 2085-2100.

Figures/Tables 8

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Temperature-humidity index (THI)		Wind-chill index (WCI)		Index of clothing (ICL)		Altitude adaptation index (AAI)
Classification	Human body sensation	Classification	Human body sensation	Classification	Suitable clothing	Oxygen content of air	Human body sensation
< 40	Extremely cold and uncomfortable	≤ -1000	Extremely cold wind	>2.5	Down coat or fur coat	0 m, 100%	Very comfortable
40-45	Cold and uncomfortable	-800 to -1000	Cold wind	1.8-2.5	Casual clothing plus coat	100 m, 99.2%	Comfortable
45-55	Slightly cold and uncomfortable	-600 to -800	Slightly cold wind	1.5-1.8	Casual winter clothing	1000 m, 92.4%	Quite comfortable
55-60	Cool and comfortable	-300 to -600	Cool wind	1.3-1.5	Casual spring and autumn clothing	2000 m, 84.7%	Generally comfortable
60-65	Cool and very comfortable	-200 to -300	Comfortable wind	0.7-1.3	Shirt and casual clothing	3000 m, 77.1%	Un-comfortable
65-70	Warm and comfortable	-50 to 200	Warm wind	0.5-0.7	Light summer clothing	4000 m, 69.5%	Very un- comfortable
70-75	Rather warm and comfortable	+80 to -50	No sensible wind	0.3-0.5	Short sleeve and open collar shirt	5000 m, 61.8%	Extremely un-comfortable
75-80	Sultry and uncomfortable	+160 to +80	Hot wind	0.1-0.3	Tropical light clothing
> 80	Extremely sultry and uncomfortable	≥ +160	Uncomfortable wind	< 0.1	Extremely light clothing

Year	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010	2015
THI	45.99	44.79	46.09	45.96	45.68	46.29	46.06	46.79	46.30	47.26	48.77	48.13
-WCI	633.35	751.62	806.65	701.05	652.10	645.99	632.68	595.30	582.87	752.03	537.01	591.61
ICL	1.95	2.03	1.96	1.98	1.96	1.93	1.93	1.87	1.88	1.87	1.79	1.78
Month	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov
THI	36.51	35.57	38.41	42.24	46.29	51.2	55.95	57.32	56.28	53.26	46.73	40.59
-WCI	795.89	878.68	886.00	811.52	705.67	595.93	486.41	438.17	442.7	492.16	618.46	719.59
ICL	2.51	2.62	2.47	2.20	1.92	1.60	1.33	1.25	1.30	1.45	1.83	2.24

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