HONOLULU — A University of Hawaii report has warned the state’s tourism sector to start preparing for the effects of climate change immediately.
The study said Hawaii would likely see more competition for visitors as warmer climate zones expand and new, more accessible tropical resorts emerge in coastal regions from Texas to Florida.
Hawaii will be a hotter place, with fewer cooling trade winds and more drought, fewer waterfalls and forest streams. Sea levels will rise, meaning there will be fewer beaches and more flooding as the coast erodes.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority paid for the report, which suggests strategies for countering the changes.
The tourism authority’s CEO, Mike McCartney, said his organization would use the study to help guide the industry’s environmental initiatives.
Dolan Eversole, UH Sea Grant Program coastal hazards extension agent and one of the authors of the report, said a rise in greenhouse gases around the world is already changing the earth’s climate. But he said people may not experience major effects for 20, 30 or even 50 years.
One of the biggest challenges for the state and its tourism industry will be rising sea levels. Because nearly all of Hawaii’s hotels are located near the shore, the resorts can expect to be under increasing attack from flooding and storm surges, the report said.
Hawaii will be faced with the choice of either armoring its shorelines to protect hotels and other buildings and risk losing even more sandy shorelines, or conducting a managed and potentially costly retreat from the coast to maintain healthy sand beaches.
The popular Waikiki Beach may have to undergo constant sand replenishment to exist. And it wouldn’t be cheap: The last Waikiki sand nourishment programme in 2012 cost $4.5 million and would cost considerably more in future.
