Jeffrey P. Osleeb

Tourism-Generated Earnings in the Coastal Zone: A Regional Analysis

Abstract Over the past thirty years, the coastal counties have shifted from traditional maritime activities such as fishing and boating, to a more service-oriented, and tourism-dependent economy. A key to economic growth in the coastal states has been the strength of the travel and tourist industry. This study links a regional model of tourism-generated earnings to a GIS model to quantify the relationship between the relative size of the travel and tourism sector in each county and the countys proximity to the coast. We find that tourism-related earnings, as a percent of total earnings, are concentrated in counties that lie within forty km (25 miles) of the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts of the United States. In contrast, the share of earnings attributable to tourism is not sensitive to distance from the coast for counties that are further than forty km (25 miles) inland. The literature on beach quality suggests that coastal tourism is dependent on clean, broad and sandy beaches. Key unanswered questions are: 1, the importance of beach quality to the tourism industry, relative to other amenities such as weather and the presence of cultural attractions; and 2, the degree to which a common set of causes explains migration patterns, tourism, and economic development in the coastal zone.

The use of remote sensing and geographic information systems in UNICEF's dracunculiasis (Guinea worm) eradication effort

Abstract Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is a parasitic disease which is endemic in 18 African and two Asian countries. It has a marked potential for eradication by a combination of water supply management, health education and controlled medical intervention. While data on the disease are, in many cases, both in short supply and unreliable, increasingly the tools of remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) are becoming important components of the eradication effort. In particular, remotely sensed data from LANDSAT have allowed the identification and location of remote and small settlements in dracunculiasis-endemic areas. When coupled with additional information available in remotely sensed data from LANDSAT, and when used in conjunction with a GIS containing digitized maps and field data collected from hand-held global positioning system receivers, the eradication effort has developed an epidemiological tool of potential power. While at first this system is finding uses in managing existing data in a unified inventory, the system shows potential for use as an effective management decision-making tool as the control effort moves from disease reduction to disease eradication. This paper will use a single province within one country, the Zou Province of Benin, to demonstrate the varied data sources involved in the system, the software and hardware components of the system, and to discuss the specific problems involved in using the system in the field. Of particular consideration, and of potential use to other similar programs, is a consideration of the management and implementation of the system. The paper concludes that a combination of remote sensing and GIS technologies offers the epidemiologist a new and important means by which to effectively implement solutions to public health management problems.

A weighted covering model to aid in dracunculiasis eradication

Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease) is a parasitic disease that is endemic to 18 African and 2 Asian countries. It has a marked potential for eradication through a combination of water supply management, health education, and controlled medical intervention. These intervention methods require the development of water wells and establishment of schools. Each has a different cost, a different success rate for eradication of the disease, and a different distance that people are willing and able to travel in order to utilize the facility.In this paper a weighted maximal covering model is developed to determine the best locations, given a limited budget, for the different types of facilities used to fight the disease. The model is developed and demonstrated using data from a single province within one country, the Zou Province of Benin.

Risk assessment for asbestos-related cancer from the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

Objective: We sought to estimate the lifetime risk of asbestos-related cancer for residents of Lower Manhattan attributable to asbestos released into the air by the 9/11 attack on New York Citys World Trade Center (WTC). Methods: Exposure was estimated from available data and reasoned projections based on these data. Cancer risk was assessed using an asbestos risk model that differentiates asbestos fiber-types and the US Environmental Protection Agencys model that does not differentiate fiber-types and combines mesothelioma and lung cancer risks. Results: The upper limit for the expected number of asbestos-related cancers is less than one case over the lifetime of the population for the risk model that is specific for fiber-types and 12 asbestos-related cancers with the US Environmental Protection Agencys model. Conclusions: The cancer risk associated with asbestos exposures for residents of Lower Manhattan resulting from the collapse of the WTC is negligible.

Integration of Geographic Information

Decision makers are often faced with difficult environmental decisions, such as where to locate a landfill, whether to build an incinerator, and how to assess environmental risks. They usually make these decisions on the basis of overwhelming amounts of information using data that are difficult to interpret and often conflicting (Anderson and Greenberg, 1982). Because environmental data are collected by so many sources and methods, conclusions are often at odds with each other, depending upon the derivation of the data and how the data are presented.

The Impact of Coal Conversions on the Ports of New England

Historically, waterborne movements of coal into the New England region were very important. This paper presents the results of a systematic study of the transportation of coal into the region to satisfy the anticipated energy demands of the electric utilities. The results of this analysis indicate that waterborne movements of coal can once again predominate. Even with the added investments necessary for the construction of new coal handling equipment at the ports of New England and the costs associated with additional coal transfers, water modes tend to be the most economical. The ports of Providence and Boston appear to have some geographical strategic importance to this coal trade. 33 references, 3 figures, 13 tables

Determinants of Coastal Tourism: A Case Study of Florida Beach Counties

Abstract The coastal zone of the United States is a major source of economic growth and as a result has seen significant increases in population over the past 50 years. Most aspects of the coastal economy—tourism and residential and commercial development—are heavily dependent upon the environmental preservation and recreational quality of ocean beaches. In earlier work, we documented the economic benefits of ocean beach enhancement projects on several important Florida tourism-dependent counties, which are reflected in greater-than-expected increased earnings in the tourism sector. However, the direction of causality of the analysis was somewhat ambiguous. Although we anticipated that beach nourishment projects would attract visitors, it is equally true that, in the allocation of scarce beach nourishment project dollars, it is likely that eroding beaches in areas that are already flourishing tourist destinations will attract beach nourishment funding to preserve their tourist industries. This article links an exploratory spatial data analysis of the tourism sector with a statistical study of the economic determinants of coastal tourism in Florida. Using the predicted likelihood of beach nourishment projects over the 1970–2000 study period as an explanatory variable, we estimate the growth in earnings in the tourism sector between 1970 and 2000. This gives us a clearer understanding of the complex temporal and spatial relationships that influence the coastal economy.

Shore Protection: Choices and Benefits

The coastal zone of the United States is a major source of economic and population growth. All aspects of the coastal economy — tourism, residential and commercial development — are heavily dependent upon the environmental preservation and recreational quality of beaches. This study characterizes the linkages among beach quality, tourism, and the coastal economy. We document the empirical evidence for the economic and demographic importance of the coastal zone, and for the crucial role that tourism plays in its economy. The remaining piece of the puzzle — the link between beach protection activities on the one hand and tourism and the coastal economy on the other — is less-well substantiated. We identify two economic models that can be used to measure the strength of the relationship between beach quality and the coastal economy. We consider both cross-sectional differences, i.e., variation among coastal counties in recreational and property values as a function of beach quality; and temporal differences, i.e., recreational and property values along the coast both before and after placement of federal shore-protection projects.