Allen Perry

The use of a temporal analogue to investigate the possible impact of projected global warming on the UK tourist industry

Abstract Tourism in the UK benefited from the continued ‘hot spell’ throughout the three summer months in 1995. A revival of the traditional British seaside holiday was experienced whilst holidays taken abroad fell significantly. This paper uses information from the regional tourist boards to evaluate the nature of the climate-tourism relationship for domestic tourists in 1995. Subsequently, the likely concerns and opportunities for tourism in a globally warmer world are identified.

Will Predicted Climate Change Compromise the Sustainability of Mediterranean Tourism

Projected greenhouse gas induced climate change may alter the frequency and intensity of events like heat waves, drought and fires which affect tourists in the Mediterranean. The summer of 2003 is used as an example of the impact of climate on tourists to the area. Tourists’ reactions and the possible adaptive responses that the tourist industry might adopt are considered. The sustainability of tourism in the future is also investigated.

Impacts of Climate Change on Tourism in the Mediterranean: Adaptive Responses

Key sensitivities to Mediterranean tourism include drought and heatwaves, both of which are likely to increase with projected greenhouse warming. Adaptive responses must include lengthening of the present season and particularly taking care to cater for the increasing number of older people in the population of Northern European countries who will demand high environmental and accommodation standards and look for more bespoke holidays than the mass market tourist. Climate change in Northern Europe may affect the push-pull factors which currently favour a summer peak of tourists in many Mediterranean destinations. Infra structure and beaches may well be at risk from sea level rise and there are likely to be increased problems from forest fires, water supplies and hygiene.

The wind hazard in the British isles and its effects on transportation

The impact of severe wind episodes on both the travelling public and the transport network operator is reviewed. The greatest impact is on road, air and sea transport and the examples of storm-force winds in 1987 and 1990 reveals the scale and nature of the disruption. Improvements to the format of weather forecasts and warnings is considered to offer some prospect of reducing the hazard, but a databank of wind-related transport accidents is also needed for planning and preliminary operational statistical analysis.

Predicting road hazards caused by rain, freezing rain and wet surfaces and the role of weather radar

Freezing rain in the winter of 1995/96 has drawn attention to the severity of black-ice problems on British roads, additional to the normal increased hazards presented to drivers by any form of precipitation. Disruption to traffic was considerable on several days. Weather radar provides improved nowcasting, for both winter and summer conditions, where available real time directly to highway engineers, but this is not yet generally the case in England and Wales. New developments from the Meteorological Office offer improved possibilities at reasonable costs. Copyright

IPCC second assessment and beyond

The single most important publication since my last report has to be the IPCC second assessment report completed in December 1995. Reports are under the titles The science of climate change (Houghton et al., 1996), Impacts, adaptations and mitigation of climate change (Watson et al., 1996) and Dimensions of climate change (Bruce et al., 1996). (Further information can be found on the World Wide Web, page address: http://www.unep.ch.) Since the 1990 IPCC report considerable progress has been made in attempts to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic influences on climate. Although widely quoted in the press and elsewhere it is worth while to remind

The wind hazard in Great Britain and its effects on road and air transport

Abstract A review is presented of the wind hazard in Great Britain and its impact on road and air transport. The severe gales of 1987 and 1990 were particularly hazardous to road users. A detailed analysis of aviation accidents for the 1987–1992 period has been undertaken. For both modes of transport suggestions are made of measures that can be taken to mitigate the effects of the hazard.

Holocene book reviews : Confronting climate change: risks, implications and responses

on laboratory shelves increasingly dog-eared. This reviewer’s copy fell apart sometime in the mid-1980s, and has since survived only through frequent applications of sellotape! This new volume, therefore, has been eagerly anticipated, and the wait has certainly been well worthwhile. It now has a third author, Margaret Collinson, who has been largely responsible for photography ; has been completely rewritten; has increased in length by

Holocene book reviews: Dictionary of global climate change. W.J. Maunder. London: UCL Press, 1992, 240pp., £19.95, hardback. ISBN 1-85728-023-7

According to the brief introduction this book aims to ’provide a comprehensive modern reference text for all the subdisciplines of the Earth Sciences, supplying definitions of all appropriate terms and longer items which provide a review of the present state of knowledge’. That is a very tall order indeed and Philip Kearey, eight subject editors and the many contributors deserve to be warmly congratulated for their efforts. The main body of the book comprises 672 pages containing more than 2700 entries arranged alphabetically. The length of entries varies from a single line definition to several pages of review and discussion followed by a short list of key references. This is followed by what is undoubtedly the best index that I have ever seen: forty pages comprising more than 8000 entries, fully cross-referenced and with the principal page reference highlighted in bold type. I had thought that the best way to review a huge book like this might be to browse through it, checking the definitions and reviews under both familiar and more obscure headings. It was then that I realized what a dangerous book this is. You may think that you can take a few moments just to check that key definition that you need for your next lecture, but be warned, it will draw you in and devour your working day. I only wanted to look up the lichenometry entry, but

The application of weather radar to transport problems in the United Kingdom

logical Office for some years, and may eventually play an important part in the Office’s weather forecast presentations on television. Invaluable though it may be to the weather forecaster, however, weather radar is only one example of the major advances being made in contemporary weather forecast technology. In particular, the frequent availability of satellite imagery from such sources as METEOSAT 2