Name:  Xue lihua Student ID：S07324
Research paper supervisor:Dr.Seku Conde
Minzu University of China
2007-2008 Academic Year
 

 
Abstract: Global warming is one of the most serious problems in our times. With the deeply studies of the global warming, people realize that it doesn’t just the natural environment problems but the international politics, economy, social lives and so forth, all of these causing the global warming. China also has this kind of problems. This paper wants to focus on tourist industry in China under the current situations of global warming. It divides into three parts, including introduction, the body and conclusion. Through introducing the current situation of environment change in China, especially the positive and negative influences of tourism industry, the article tries to find better ways to develop tourist industry in China. 
 
Key words: Global warming, Tourist Industry, Sustainable tourism
 
Ⅰ Introduction
 
Recently, there has been a strong concern about global warming. The term “global warming” refers to the warming in recent years, and implies a human influence.
There is no country has emerged as a major industrial power without creating environmental damage, so is China. Nowadays with the rapid industrial development in China, there is one of the serious negative consequences——increasing pollution and degradation of natural resources.
ⅰ The global warming
Recently, there has been a strong concern about global warming. The term “global warming” refers to the warming in recent years, and implies a human influence. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) uses the term “climate change” for human-caused change, and “climate variability” for other changes. The term “man-made global” warming is sometimes used when focusing on human-induced changes.[1]
Global warming is the increase of the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century, and the temperature is also increasing nowadays. The average global air temperature near the Earth's surface increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the hundred years in 2005.[2] The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely because of the observed increase in man-made greenhouse or called the greenhouse effect. Natural phenomena such as solar variation and volcanoes probably had a small warming effect from pre-industrial times to 1950.[3]
The detailed causes of the recent warming remain an active field of research, but the scientific consensus is that the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases due to human activity caused most of the warming observed since the start of the industrial era. This attribution is clearest for the most recent 50 years, for which the most detailed data are available.
Climate commitment studies indicate that even if greenhouse gases were stabilized at 2000 levels, a further warming of about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) would still occur.[4]
Climate model projections summarized by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that the average global surface temperature will likely rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the twenty-first century.[5] Increasing global temperature will cause sea level to rise, and is expected to increase the serious weather events and to change the global environment. Other effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, trade routes, species extinctions, increases in the ranges of disease and so on.
Remaining scientific uncertainties, no one knows what will be happened in the future, and how warming and related changes will vary from region to region all over the world. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but the ongoing politicals and actions are not taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences. And the results are also not very obvious.
ⅱ The situations in China
There is no country has emerged as a major industrial power without creating environmental damage, so is China.
 Nowadays with the rapid industrial development in China, there is one of the serious negative consequences——increasing pollution and degradation of natural resources. Much solid waste is not properly disposed of. Water pollution is a source of health problems across the country and air pollution causes up to 750,000 premature deaths each year. China’s polluted environment is largely a result of the country’s rapid development and consequently a large increase in primary energy consumption, which is primarily provided by coal power plants. China has pursued a development model which prioritizes exports-led growth which is similar to many other East Asian countries. The World Bank reports that 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China.[6]
The Xinhua News Agency has quoted an environmental official, Wang Jinnan, as saying that more than 410,000 Chinese die as a result of pollution each year.[7] The Financial Times said a World Bank report, entitled Cost of Pollution in China, found up to 760,000 people die prematurely each year in China because of air and water pollution. High levels of air pollution in China's cities leads to 350,000-400,000 premature deaths, it said. Another 300,000 die because of poor-quality air indoors. The newspaper article, quoting World Bank advisers and Chinese officials, also said research showing that there are 60,000 premature deaths each year because of poor-quality water.[8]
With a development of high speed in recent years, China has become one of the fast economic growing countries in the world, but at the same time, we are also facing the worsening problem of pollution. We are all well aware of the terrible situation: water loss and soil erosion along the Changjiang River and Huanghe River, the gray and cloudy sky on the industrial city, the dead water without living things. It is obvious that pollution is a complex problem in China.[9]
Ⅱ The body
ⅰTourism
Tourism is one kind of travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who “travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited”. Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2006, there were over 846 million international tourist arrivals.[10]
Tourism is very important for many countries such as Egypt, Thailand and many island areas such as Hawaii, because of the large income of money for businesses with their goods and services and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism. These service industries include transportation services such as ships and taxis, accommodation such as hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues, and other hospitality industry services such as resorts, national cultures, natural beauties.
ⅱTourism in China
1. Current situations in China
Tourism in China has greatly developed over the last few decades. Because of the emergence of a newly rich middle class and an easing of restrictions on movement by the Chinese authorities, tourism in China is almost got her boom. China has become one of the world’s most-popular and hottest outbound tourist markets. The world is on the top of a sustained Chinese outbound tourism boom according to the World Tourism Organization (WTO). In terms of total outbound travel spend, China is currently ranked seventh and is expected to be the second-fastest growing in the world from 2006 to 2015, jumping into the number two slot for total travel spend by 2015.[11]
2. The development of tourist industry in China
  The development of tourism in China is not prosperous as it seemed. Between 1949 and 1974, the People's Republic of China was closed to almost all the countries around the world, and only selected foreign visitors could come to China. In the late 1970s, the leadership of China decided to promote tourism vigorously, and wanted to make tourism as a means of earning foreign exchange, China quickly developed its own tourist industry. Major hotel construction programs greatly increased, the number of hotels, guest houses and the traditional Chinese food restaurants, more historic and scenic spots were renovated and opened to tourists, and professional guides and other service personnel were trained, Chinese cultures are showed to all the visitors from worldwide.[12]
The developing of domestic and international airline traffics and other tourist transportation facilities made travel more convenient. Over 250 cities and counties were opened to foreign visitors by the mid-1980s. Travelers only needed valid visas or residence permits to visit 100 locations in China; the remaining locations required travel permits from public security departments. In 1985 approximately 1.4 million foreigners visited China, and nearly US$1.3 billion was earned from tourism. In 1985 there was 1.4 million visitors to china.[13]
Nowadays China has become one of the world’s most-popular and hottest outbound tourist markets. The world is on the top of a sustained Chinese outbound tourism boom according to the World Tourism Organization (WTO).
3. The influences of tourism in China
There have been a lot of arguments about whether tourism is beneficial or harmful to the environment. There are some examples of both aspects.
 
3.1 Positive influences of tourism in China
Tourism in China has a lot of positive influences. Such as [...]

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