Eric Crampton • Dec 20, 2019 •
Eloise Gibson covers the carbon costs of tourism over at Newsroom: But in reality: “value-led tourism growth may actually worsen those pressures that are linked with consumption. Higher-value visitors, by definition, consume more goods and services, all of which have an associated greenhouse gas and solid waste footprint. To the extent that these goods and services are relatively energy … Read More
Guest Author • Dec 17, 2019 •
Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, University of South Australia and James Higham, University of Otago In the aftermath of the tragedy at Whakaari/White Island on December 9, many are analysing the risks of adventure tourism, particularly volcano tourism, and asking pointed questions. It is a sensitive time, with 15 people now confirmed dead, many hospitalised in critical condition, and two bodies yet … Read More
Guest Author • Apr 11, 2018 •
Rowena Christiansen, University of Melbourne This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Take it from me is a new series in Science and Technology, where we find an expert to provide a personal but informed perspective on a topical issue. Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly has two people signed up for a … Read More
Guest Author • Feb 01, 2018 •
By Peter de Lange A recent survey of Rarotonga’s little plants – the liverworts and mosses – has established that all is not well in the volcanic island’s forests. The plants, often dubbed the ‘canaries in the cage’ of the plant world because of their sensitivity to ecosystem change, are drowning under an onslaught of weeds that have spread from … Read More
Guest Author • Oct 24, 2017 •
By Valentina Dinica, Victoria University of Wellington. New Zealand is one of 36 global hotspots for biodiversity. Its unique wildlife is a major draw card for tourists. About three million international visitors arrive in New Zealand each year, adding NZ$15 billion to the economy. At least half explore a national park or protected area (PA), … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 28, 2017 •
Christine Cheyne, Massey University Earlier this month, New Zealand’s Supreme Court rejected a proposed land swap that would have flooded conservation land for the construction of the country’s largest irrigation dam. The court was considering whether the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s investment arm could build a dam on 22 hectares of the protected Ruahine Forest Park in … Read More
Eric Crampton • Dec 13, 2016 •
The world has plenty of hard unsolveable problems. It’s irritating when easy to solve problems fail to be solved, although they too may point to a broader difficult problem. Great walks Swing bridge on the Great Walk Lake Waikaremoana, New Zealand. Wikimedia / Michal Klajban. Item the first: New Zealand’s great walks are, well, great, and very popular with … Read More
Guest Author • Apr 28, 2016 •
By Jon C. Day, James Cook University The widespread bleaching event occurring across the Great Barrier Reef is unprecedented in scale and severity. It has rightly gained global media attention. Sadly, however, some of the headlines it has generated are factually incorrect or misleading: Half of Great Barrier Reef “dead or dying” (ITV News) Coral are … Read More
Guest Author • Dec 07, 2015 •
Colin Michael Hall, University of Canterbury Travelling carbon free for about the cost of a salad in New York? Yes, please. This is the good news that’s emerged from a study that found the damaging effects of tourism emissions could eventually be eliminated if travellers paid an average of just US$11 per trip. Our research, published recently in … Read More
Victoria Metcalf • Mar 20, 2014 •
What’s the future for Antarctic expeditions? Antarctica still holds magical allure as perhaps the most mysterious continent we possess on earth. Even for those that have experienced time ‘on the ice’ it may feel more akin to being on another planet than our own. Part of the attraction is the extreme tag, well earned in this case, with … Read More