Climate change is making ‘last chance tourism’ more popular, and riskier
September 5, 2024
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The collapse of an ice cave in Iceland’s Vatnajokull National Park, in which an American tourist was killed and his girlfriend injured, highlights the risks stemming from a boom in glacier visits, The New York Times reports. It’s part of a wider trend know as “last chance tourism.”
- While the Aug. 26 incident hasn’t been directly tied to climate change, experts say that rising temperatures and receding glaciers are increasing risks, as meltwater destabilizes ice formations and makes glaciers more prone to collapse, according to the report.
- Despite the risks, glaciers draw half a million visitors a year to Iceland as tourists rush to see them before they disappear.
- Corin Lohmann, owner of Canadian tour operator IceWalks, told the Times that his company had to reroute the trail to the foot of Canada’s Athabasca Glacier because of glacial melt. His routes have also been affected by wildfires in recent years, including one that closed access to the glaciers this summer.
