ABSTRACT
The complexities of the science of climate change prediction mean there is no absolute certainty about how tourism will be affected by climate change. The Earth's climate has produced a range of rich biodiverse environments used for tourism including rainforests, mountain and desert ecosystems, coral reefs and wetlands, many of which offer resources for tourism. The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004, graphically illustrates the threat of natural disasters to tourism destinations and the tourism industry. Tourism's reliance on climatic stability makes it, along with agriculture and fishing, the most vulnerable of economic sectors to climate change. The terms global warming and climate change have become incorporated into the global vernacular of international debate and policy. The issue of climate change is one that attains a high level of global coverage as an environmental issue and problem unearthed by science.
