There is currently a United Nations Climate Change conference taking place in Cancun, Mexico.   Notables like Ted Turner, founder of CNN and UN benefactor; and Richard Branson, entrepeneur and founder of many enterprises including Virgin Airways, and others are urging prompt and dramatic action. The biggest unanswered questions are not whether the globe is warming or to what extent human activity is the cause, but rather why the United States seems to be so uninterested and uninvolved in contributing to solutions. As travelers we have seen the melting glaciers and observed the effects of droughts and unseasonable storms. We have spoken with guides, farmers and villagers who observe that what were once predictable seasonal patterns. Shannon Stowell of the Adventure Travel Trade Association addressed the conference with ideas about how adventure travel can contribute to awareness of climate change and how our interests as travelers align with those most concerned about finding solutions and climate stability. His suggestions center more on the value of awareness than on actual reduction of the global temperature, which is the most enormous common property resource management problem ever faced by humanity.

We, as travelers still have this fundamental problem of the carbon profligacy of mechanized travel.  Ted Turner does not bicycle between and around his many far flung ranches.  Richard Branson,  is not yet running his commercial jet fleets on biofuel or hydrogen.  I guess they justify their outsized personal  carbon footprints by  the compensatory effects of their political advocacy that other people (families, cultures, nations) not create such large carbon footprints. It is kind of like using a megaphone to urge a crowd to keep the peace by turning down the volume on their ipod headphones.
Everyone  I have ever met in the nature-eco-adventure travel industry is aware of the problem of global warming and would like to participate in an effective solution, if they can afford it and if it is presented convincingly.  At least we are beyond denial and open to ideas.  As far as I can tell we are still lacking in truly effective good ideas and especially lacking in an estimate of the cost.   Adventure travel may be less damaging to the global climate than some other types of travel, but we should be cautious in suggesting we are more a part of the solution than part of the problem.

Bhutan has long been that idealized Kingdom where life changed little and people liked it that way.  That romanticized notion may be a fading mirage. A recent feature in the Wall Street Journal suggests that some officials would like to see more foreign investment and conventional development.  Two new airports, another airline, more hotels and local branches of foreign universities all seem to be in the plans for this decade and possibly the next two years. Those of us who find the existing simple hotels quite adequate and the absence of extensive roads and air services part of the charm are concerned. Especially, since the inevitable impacts of climate change, glacial melting  and disruptive weather are making it a challenge to maintain Gross National Happiness under the present simplified  infrastructure. Recent floods wiped out extensive wetland habitat utilized by the rare Black-necked Cranes contributing to a continuing population decline of this object of local and tourist veneration.

It may not be fair for residents of over developed nations to make judgments about how other countries should shun modern technologies and conveniences. If nothing else the message you might take from these events is that if you have not seen and experienced the wonders of Bhutan personally, you should visit soon. We can help.

Reports from Nepal this morning indicate about 2000 foreign trekkers  are stranded at Lukla, the airstrip closest to Mt. Everest National Park due to unceasing bad weather.   Normally, in mid-November more than 50 flights per day ferry travelers between Kathmandu and this tarmac strip at 9,000′ elevation. This year unseasonable weather including high winds, clouds and rain have lingered long after the monsoon normally relents in early October.  In the absence of airplane service some helicopters have  been able to arrive and some trekkers who are tired of waiting are walking out  to the vehicle road about 6 days walk away.  The Nepal Army has been approached for assistance in evacuating trekkers.   While Everest is the most popular trekking destination in Nepal, we are recommending to our clients that they consider lesser known trekking routes in the Arun Valley, Gorkha and Annapurna regions where air access is not problematic and  delays have not been reported. No doubt lots of people now in Lukla are wondering if global climate change is the cause of their dismay.  While American politicians may dispute the reality of climate change the farmers and herders of the Himalayas are extremely concerned that  unprecedented weather patterns of the past decade have changed the calculus of their subsistence existence. Rains are unpredictable, streams dry up, reservoirs fail to fill, storms of extreme intensity damage crops and steeply terraced fields.  None of the traveler’s are likely to die of waiting for a flight, but this may be just another example of climate change becoming ever more perceptible and problematic. Click here for more information on JOURNEYS Nepal trips.