Read this interesting article.
- structure of the earth's atmosphere
- important elements (gases) in the atmosphere.
For Vietnamese terms pls view this page about "Cac tang khi quyen"
http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%E1%BA%A5u_tr%C3%BAc_kh%C3%AD_quy%E1%BB%83n
Scientists imagine earth’s atmosphere as an “ocean” of air hundreds of mile deep
The atmosphere of the earth exerts a lot of pressure, about 14.7 pounds per a square inch. This is normally referred to as atmospheric pressure. The air is composed of a mixture of several gases. Nitrogen is the most abundant followed by oxygen. Next to oxygen we have argon then carbon dioxide. After carbon dioxide is the “other” gases but I wont go into detail about those ones. Mixed in with theses gases is water vapor, which is the gaseous form of water. There are several important ingredients in the atmosphere. First there is oxygen, which is vital to human life, and then there is carbon dioxide, which is important to plants. Also there is water vapor in the air, which gives us precipitation, and also with the help of carbon dioxide it traps the heat of the sun within the atmosphere giving the earth a milder and more stable climate. The atmosphere is divided into to section based on the make-up. The two sections are the lower and the upper atmosphere. The lower atmosphere is referred to as the homosphere because it has a uniform mixture of gases. The upper layer of the atmosphere is referred to as the heterosphere because it has several layers of different gases. The atmosphere can be divided into several specific layers by density and temperature. The lowest layer of the atmosphere is called the troposphere also known as the “weather layer”. Next comes the tropopause, which is the upper boundary of the troposphere. The next layer is the stratosphere also called the jet stream because of its strong’ but steady winds with little or no change of weather. Above the stratosphere is the stratopause. In the stratopause lies the ozone layer, which protects the earth from the suns dangerous UV radiation. There are 3 types of radiation: first there is UVC, which is the most powerful and dangerous yet all of it is absorbed in the ozone layer. Next is UVB this type of radiation causes tanning and sunburn most but not all of it is absorbed by the ozone layer. Last but not least is UVA the least harmful and all it passes through the ozone layer with no trouble at all. Right above the ozone layer is the mesosphere, and above the mesosphere is the mesopause the mesopause is the coldest point in the atmosphere and averages to about negative 101-110 degrees Celsius (negative 150-165 degrees Fahrenheit) After the mesopause the temperature rises very quickly. The next layer in the atmosphere is the thermosphere named for its high temperature. Within the thermosphere and the mesosphere is the ionosphere and it is named that way because it is composed of many ions. Also in this same region the auroras occur they are known as the northern lights in the north and in the south the southern lights. After the thermosphere is the thermopause, which is the outer most boundary of the thermosphere. Last is the exosphere, which is the outermost layer of the atmosphere.
Heat or thermal energy that is absorbed differs from place to place. This so called heat from the sun is solar radiation. The solar radiation that reaches the earth is called insolation meaning incoming solar radiation. Our earth only receives about 47% of the suns solar radiation the rest is either reflected (37%) or absorbed by the atmosphere (18%). There are several factors affecting the earth’s insolation. First is cloudy weather because clouds are very reflective. Second is the length of daytime. Less daytime hours mean less insolation for the earth. Third is the angle of the sun’s rays. The more slanted the rays of the sun the longer it takes to heat up the earth. Last is the earth distance from the sun. When the earth is at perihelion, the closest point to the sun. It receives more insolation, but when it is at aphelion, the farthest point from the sun. The earth receives less insolation. The sun’s energy that enters the earth’s atmosphere is called the energy budget. This “energy” heats the land, water, and air.
So how does the earth contain this thermal energy? It is called the greenhouse effect. The water vapor and the carbon dioxide let the insolation in but they don’t let it escape out like the glass windows of a greenhouse. The thermal energy that the earth and its atmosphere receive from the sun is distributed several ways. One reason is because the land warms much faster then bodies of water and also the land cools faster then the bodies of water. Heat is distributed by radiation, which is heat transferred by electromagnetic waves, conduction which is direct contact between two objects, and also convection, which is the transfer of heat by moving currents of hot air, or fluids also called convection waves. Also winds are formed from convection. When rising air’s temperature heats up it’s compressed but does not have a heat loss this is called adiabatic heating; if there is no heat added and the temperature of the air-cools as it expands this is called adiabatic cooling So when masses of air rise, its temperature drops and as it sinks it heats back over and the process of cooling and heating are started over and over again.
When there is a higher than normal concentration of heat it will produce convection currents of rising air creating a low pressure called a low. If there is lower than normal heat concentration it will produce currents of sinking air creating a high pressure called a high. The way the earth rotates and causes changes in the course of the winds is called the Coriolis effect. It can be explained by two combined factors. First inertia the resistance to change in speed or direction keeps the winds in the same condition of motion. Second objects on earth’s rotating surface travel at different speeds. This causes two types of rotating winds. One is the cyclone this happens when the winds form a circulating spiral around the low. Second is the anticyclone this happens when winds form a wind system around a high. There are several wind zones in the earth. First there is the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) this is where the winds of both the Northern and Southern hemisphere converge and rise. The next wind zone is the doldrums here there is little or periods of no wind and back then in the days of sailing vessels this was bad. Next comes the horse latitudes they are located about 30 degrees at both north and south latitudes. After the horse latitudes come the trade winds these winds blow toward the equator from the high-pressure regions of the horse latitudes.
Next come the polar easterlies these winds blow out of the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and out of the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere together they make the polar easterlies. Another wind zone is the prevailing westerlies these winds come out of the southwest or the northwest. Last there is the jet stream these are high altitude winds concentrated in narrow, meandering bands of rapidly moving air that come mostly out of the west but it can come from all directions. Winds are normally named from the direction they come. There are also a few local winds. One is the monsoon or monsoon effect, which is when the winds reverse their direction from season to season. There is also the sea and land breeze the sea breeze brings cool air to the land during the day and at night it brings warm air to the land. The land breeze brings warm air farther inland during the day and at night it brings cool air further inland. Last is the mountain and valley breeze. During the day the cool mountain air warms as it travels to the valley and heats it. At night the warm valley air-cools and travels up the mountain and warms it.
6/3/09
Is TV delaying child development?
By Clare Murphy
BBC News health reporter
Does CBeebies have a lot to answer for?
New research suggests having the TV on may impair young children's development by reducing the amount of conversation between infant and adult. So how bad is the box for young minds?
A US team recorded more than 300 children aged between two months and four years on several days every month over two years.
They found that when the TV was audible - either on in the background or being watched - the number of words spoken and sounds made by either adult or child reduced considerably.
It is the latest study to imply that delays in language development may be the fault of TV, a medium blamed for a host of other modern ills, from bullying to obesity. But while it is not without its problems, experts warn that to expunge it from our children's lives completely may be as undesirable as it is unrealistic.
Mixed picture
Certainly there is a body of research building up that finds a correlation between heavy TV viewing at an early age and linguistic problems.
This study is the first to demonstrate that when the television is on, there is reduced speech in the home
Dimitri Christakis
Lead researcher
The exact nature of the relationship is unclear, and the role that family circumstances and other social influences play has not been established. However lack of interaction at a personal level is thought to be a key culprit.
But there is equally evidence that, for those over two at least, monitored levels of age-appropriate programmes can in fact foster language skills and indeed improve attention.
Watching with an adult and discussing the contents after a shared experienced has been found to be particularly beneficial, but not always necessary providing children are watching high-quality, tailored programmes which contain familiar words and scenarios.
Indeed some psychologists argue that given young children cannot read their own books or surf the internet, watching may be an empowering experience that gives them access to other worlds which present useful information in a way their parents may not be able to.
But there are some serious caveats: what appears to be particularly undesirable is the viewing of general audience or adult programmes both alone or in the company of a carer.
National Literacy Trust's TV tips
Limit TV time to one hour for 3-5 year olds
Where possible, watch together
Switch off when finished
Encourage imaginative play based on what was watched
Videos/dvds may be better due to repetition of words
Avoid TV in the bedroom
In addition while some TV may be beneficial for the over twos, the evidence for those younger is more shaky. First words, it is argued, are learnt far more effectively from real people than voices on the TV.
In the US, the American Academy of Paediatrics recommends no exposure to TV and computer screens for those under two, but lack of evidence for such a measure means there is no such policy in the UK.
Constant hum
This latest study into TV's effect on children comes from the University of Washington's Dimitri Christakis, the researcher who made headlines after reporting that infants who watched the Baby Einstein series - a set of programmes billed as educational - learnt fewer new words than those who did not.
His new study did not differentiate between TV being watched or background TV, nor did it examine the kind of programmes that were on. But it did find that overall, adults barely spoke to children when the TV was audible.
Research published last year also in the US also found problems with background TV, concluding that it affected both the quality and quantity of play in young children.
Liz Attenborough, director of Talk to Your Baby at the UK's National Literacy Trust, agrees that the permanent presence of the TV in the background is something parents should try to reduce.
"Even if you think you're not paying attention to it, you probably are - and this may well interfere with how much you speak to your child. The TV shouldn't be on all the time.
"But we are lucky to have some high-quality children's programmes in the UK. They are usually well thought-out, often featuring a clear, single voice, and incite children to make responses," she said.
"Of course we need to be aware of the problems TV can pose, but equally we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater."
BBC News health reporter
Does CBeebies have a lot to answer for?
New research suggests having the TV on may impair young children's development by reducing the amount of conversation between infant and adult. So how bad is the box for young minds?
A US team recorded more than 300 children aged between two months and four years on several days every month over two years.
They found that when the TV was audible - either on in the background or being watched - the number of words spoken and sounds made by either adult or child reduced considerably.
It is the latest study to imply that delays in language development may be the fault of TV, a medium blamed for a host of other modern ills, from bullying to obesity. But while it is not without its problems, experts warn that to expunge it from our children's lives completely may be as undesirable as it is unrealistic.
Mixed picture
Certainly there is a body of research building up that finds a correlation between heavy TV viewing at an early age and linguistic problems.
This study is the first to demonstrate that when the television is on, there is reduced speech in the home
Dimitri Christakis
Lead researcher
The exact nature of the relationship is unclear, and the role that family circumstances and other social influences play has not been established. However lack of interaction at a personal level is thought to be a key culprit.
But there is equally evidence that, for those over two at least, monitored levels of age-appropriate programmes can in fact foster language skills and indeed improve attention.
Watching with an adult and discussing the contents after a shared experienced has been found to be particularly beneficial, but not always necessary providing children are watching high-quality, tailored programmes which contain familiar words and scenarios.
Indeed some psychologists argue that given young children cannot read their own books or surf the internet, watching may be an empowering experience that gives them access to other worlds which present useful information in a way their parents may not be able to.
But there are some serious caveats: what appears to be particularly undesirable is the viewing of general audience or adult programmes both alone or in the company of a carer.
National Literacy Trust's TV tips
Limit TV time to one hour for 3-5 year olds
Where possible, watch together
Switch off when finished
Encourage imaginative play based on what was watched
Videos/dvds may be better due to repetition of words
Avoid TV in the bedroom
In addition while some TV may be beneficial for the over twos, the evidence for those younger is more shaky. First words, it is argued, are learnt far more effectively from real people than voices on the TV.
In the US, the American Academy of Paediatrics recommends no exposure to TV and computer screens for those under two, but lack of evidence for such a measure means there is no such policy in the UK.
Constant hum
This latest study into TV's effect on children comes from the University of Washington's Dimitri Christakis, the researcher who made headlines after reporting that infants who watched the Baby Einstein series - a set of programmes billed as educational - learnt fewer new words than those who did not.
His new study did not differentiate between TV being watched or background TV, nor did it examine the kind of programmes that were on. But it did find that overall, adults barely spoke to children when the TV was audible.
Research published last year also in the US also found problems with background TV, concluding that it affected both the quality and quantity of play in young children.
Liz Attenborough, director of Talk to Your Baby at the UK's National Literacy Trust, agrees that the permanent presence of the TV in the background is something parents should try to reduce.
"Even if you think you're not paying attention to it, you probably are - and this may well interfere with how much you speak to your child. The TV shouldn't be on all the time.
"But we are lucky to have some high-quality children's programmes in the UK. They are usually well thought-out, often featuring a clear, single voice, and incite children to make responses," she said.
"Of course we need to be aware of the problems TV can pose, but equally we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater."
'Oldest pottery' found in China
By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
Examples of pottery found in a cave at Yuchanyan in China's Hunan province may be the oldest known to science.
By determining the fraction of a type, or isotope, of carbon in bone fragments and charcoal, the specimens were found to be 17,500 to 18,300 years old.
The authors say that the ages are more precise than previous efforts because a series of more than 40 radiocarbon-dated samples support the estimate.
The work is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Yuchanyan cave was the site where the oldest kernels of rice were found in 2005, and it is viewed as an important link between cave-dwelling hunter-gatherer peoples and the farmers that arose later in the basin of the nearby Yangtze River.
“ Archaeologists before haven't looked at this closely enough to realise what's going on in caves ”
David Cohen Boston University
The previous oldest-known example of pottery was found in Japan, dated to an age between 16,000 and 17,000 years ago, but debate has raged in the archaeological community as to whether pottery was first made in China or Japan.
The most recent dig at Yuchanyan was in 2005 by a team led by Elisabetta Boaretto of the Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. They believe they have found a more precise way to read the history of human activity written in layers of sediment, or stratigraphy.
'Layer cake'
"The way people move around and mess up caves is very difficult to see archaeologically," David Cohen, an archaeologist at Boston University and a co-author on the research, told BBC News.
"Imagine you have a fire and then people come in again have another fire and another, so you have the ashes of all these fires building up but at the same time people are digging and clearing, pushing things to the side; this messes things up.
"If you have an open-air site, you sometimes get a very clean 'layer cake' stratigraphy. Archaeologists before haven't looked at this closely enough to realise what's going on in caves so they interpret this stratigraphy as a layer cake. But in actuality, it's 'lenses' of stuff that's been mixed up and moved around."
It is comparatively easy to find evidence of human occupation in caves through the dating of charcoal from fires or bones from long-ago dinners, Dr Cohen said. However, because of the unclear layering of sediment it is not easy to correlate well-dated layers with the pottery that may be nearby.
Part of the problem lies in the areas over which previous digs have searched: squares of perhaps five metres on a side.
"It's an issue of association, knowing where everything comes from in space across the cave," Dr Cohen explained. "If you're excavating in a huge unit, you can only say it comes from within this 5m area and this 20cm of sediment, and that's not good enough for understanding human activity."
Instead, the team worked in sub-divisions of just a quarter of a metre square, painstakingly collecting bone and charcoal fragments. The samples were then radiocarbon dated, revealing a clean distribution stretching between 14,000 and 21,000 years ago.
'Fantastic cave'
One fragment of pottery was found in a layer between two radiocarbon-dated fragments that both measured about 18,000 years old, taking the record for oldest pottery.
The team hope that their smaller-scale searching and taking into account the effects of human activity on cave stratigraphy will help with future digs at Yuchanyan, and elsewhere.
"It's a fantastic cave, and we hope that the way these excavations were done would set a precedent for how other caves will be looked at," said Dr Cohen.
Dr Tracey Lu, from an anthropologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who was not an author on the latest study, noted that the dates reported in this paper were slightly older than dates on pottery found in Japan.
However, she said the accuracy of radiocarbon dates in the limestone area has been under debate for many years.
"I agree that pottery was made by foragers in South China," she told the Associated Press news agency.
"But I also think pottery was produced more or less contemporaneously in several places in East Asia... from Russia, Japan to North and South China by foragers living in different environments."
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
Examples of pottery found in a cave at Yuchanyan in China's Hunan province may be the oldest known to science.
By determining the fraction of a type, or isotope, of carbon in bone fragments and charcoal, the specimens were found to be 17,500 to 18,300 years old.
The authors say that the ages are more precise than previous efforts because a series of more than 40 radiocarbon-dated samples support the estimate.
The work is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Yuchanyan cave was the site where the oldest kernels of rice were found in 2005, and it is viewed as an important link between cave-dwelling hunter-gatherer peoples and the farmers that arose later in the basin of the nearby Yangtze River.
“ Archaeologists before haven't looked at this closely enough to realise what's going on in caves ”
David Cohen Boston University
The previous oldest-known example of pottery was found in Japan, dated to an age between 16,000 and 17,000 years ago, but debate has raged in the archaeological community as to whether pottery was first made in China or Japan.
The most recent dig at Yuchanyan was in 2005 by a team led by Elisabetta Boaretto of the Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. They believe they have found a more precise way to read the history of human activity written in layers of sediment, or stratigraphy.
'Layer cake'
"The way people move around and mess up caves is very difficult to see archaeologically," David Cohen, an archaeologist at Boston University and a co-author on the research, told BBC News.
"Imagine you have a fire and then people come in again have another fire and another, so you have the ashes of all these fires building up but at the same time people are digging and clearing, pushing things to the side; this messes things up.
"If you have an open-air site, you sometimes get a very clean 'layer cake' stratigraphy. Archaeologists before haven't looked at this closely enough to realise what's going on in caves so they interpret this stratigraphy as a layer cake. But in actuality, it's 'lenses' of stuff that's been mixed up and moved around."
It is comparatively easy to find evidence of human occupation in caves through the dating of charcoal from fires or bones from long-ago dinners, Dr Cohen said. However, because of the unclear layering of sediment it is not easy to correlate well-dated layers with the pottery that may be nearby.
Part of the problem lies in the areas over which previous digs have searched: squares of perhaps five metres on a side.
"It's an issue of association, knowing where everything comes from in space across the cave," Dr Cohen explained. "If you're excavating in a huge unit, you can only say it comes from within this 5m area and this 20cm of sediment, and that's not good enough for understanding human activity."
Instead, the team worked in sub-divisions of just a quarter of a metre square, painstakingly collecting bone and charcoal fragments. The samples were then radiocarbon dated, revealing a clean distribution stretching between 14,000 and 21,000 years ago.
'Fantastic cave'
One fragment of pottery was found in a layer between two radiocarbon-dated fragments that both measured about 18,000 years old, taking the record for oldest pottery.
The team hope that their smaller-scale searching and taking into account the effects of human activity on cave stratigraphy will help with future digs at Yuchanyan, and elsewhere.
"It's a fantastic cave, and we hope that the way these excavations were done would set a precedent for how other caves will be looked at," said Dr Cohen.
Dr Tracey Lu, from an anthropologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who was not an author on the latest study, noted that the dates reported in this paper were slightly older than dates on pottery found in Japan.
However, she said the accuracy of radiocarbon dates in the limestone area has been under debate for many years.
"I agree that pottery was made by foragers in South China," she told the Associated Press news agency.
"But I also think pottery was produced more or less contemporaneously in several places in East Asia... from Russia, Japan to North and South China by foragers living in different environments."
6/2/09
Tourism benefits and drawbacks
In general, tourism has several advantages as a sector for pro-poor economic growth (Ashley et al., 2000):
Ø The consumer comes to the destination, thereby providing opportunities for selling additional goods and services.
Ø Tourism is an important opportunity to diversify local economies. It can develop in poor and marginal areas with few other export and diversification options. Remote areas particularly attract tourists because of their high cultural, wildlife and landscape value.
Ø It offers labour-intensive and small-scale opportunities compared with other non-agricultural activities, employs a high proportion of women and values natural resources and culture, which may feature among the few assets belonging to the poor.
In case tourism is being considered as one of several land use options, an assessment should be carried out of the likelihood of all the benefits and drawbacks, or advantages and limitations. At the same time, they represent the key issues to bear in mind in impact assessments and in strategies to maximise tourism's benefits and minimise negative impacts. Note that especially many of the disadvantages are not unique to tourism, but can be attributed to other economic activities in rural areas as well. The table gives a listing of the main points, as they have emerged from numerous analyses of tourism practice (many interesting cases illustrating these issues and ways to address them can be found in Boo, 1990; Lindberg, 1991; Wight, 1991; Whelan, 1992; Wells & Brandon, 1992; Lindberg et al, 1993 and 1998; McIntyre, 1993; Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996; France, 1997; Goodwin et al., 1998; Ashley et al., 2000; Carey et al., 2000).
Table. Advantages and Limitations of Tourism for Development
Advantages
- the positive scenario
Limitations and disadvantages
- the negative scenario
For local development
Ø Jobs (also for labour force with little formal education)
Ø Community income
Ø Enterprise opportunities
Ø Opportunities for training skills and upward mobility
Ø Diversify livelihoods
Ø Improved infrastructure and community facilities in marginal areas
Ø Institutional development
Ø Renewed cultural pride and self-esteem, appreciation of natural and cultural heritage
Ø Recreational and cultural facilities can also be used by residents
Ø Menial jobs only
Ø A ‘bad deal’ for communities
Ø Limited spin-off, high leakage
Ø Limited investment in training
Ø Inequitable distribution of all the above
Ø Conflict with agriculture and livelihood strategies. Risky investment.
Ø Infrastructure only for tourists, not residents, may result in hostility
Ø Local conflicts exacerbated
Ø Control by outsiders
Ø Disempowerment of residents
Ø Cultural disruption
Ø Conflicts over land rights
Ø Conflicts over resources between locals and migrants attracted by tourism success
Ø Possible competition with tourists for basic commodities makes them too scarce or expensive for locals (water, staple foods)
For economic growth
Ø Growing industry
Ø Steady prices (compared to traditional exports)
Ø Job creation, spin-off enterprises, and multiplier effects
Ø Attracts private investment
Ø Economic diversification
Ø Sustainable utilisation of natural assets
Ø Increased markets for local products
Ø Volatile demand
Ø High leakage out of economy; enclave tourism with few spin-offs
Ø Private control not partnership
Ø Over-dependence
Ø Over-use of natural resources
Ø May divert investments from other sectors or regions of higher local importance to tourism infrastructure elsewhere
For conservation
Ø Improved environmental quality
Ø Increased local benefits from wildlife justify its management as a land use option
Ø Enhanced local appreciation of values of nature
Ø Enhanced environmental awareness among tourists; possibly become private donors to conservation projects
Ø Economic justification for establishing PAs or investing in more effective management
Ø Revenues help to cover costs of conservation
Ø Benefits insufficient, narrowly distributed, and not visibly linked to conservation of the resource base.
Ø Capacity and other prerequisites lacking
Ø Conflicts with wildlife protected as tourist attraction (health risks, crop damage)
Ø Deforestation for infrastructure development or to supply fuel wood to tourists
Ø Pollution due to absent waste or sewage treatment at tourism facilities
Ø Disturbance of wildlife, trampling of sensitive vegetation
Ø Immigration as result of tourism success increases pressure on sensitive ecosystems
Ø The consumer comes to the destination, thereby providing opportunities for selling additional goods and services.
Ø Tourism is an important opportunity to diversify local economies. It can develop in poor and marginal areas with few other export and diversification options. Remote areas particularly attract tourists because of their high cultural, wildlife and landscape value.
Ø It offers labour-intensive and small-scale opportunities compared with other non-agricultural activities, employs a high proportion of women and values natural resources and culture, which may feature among the few assets belonging to the poor.
In case tourism is being considered as one of several land use options, an assessment should be carried out of the likelihood of all the benefits and drawbacks, or advantages and limitations. At the same time, they represent the key issues to bear in mind in impact assessments and in strategies to maximise tourism's benefits and minimise negative impacts. Note that especially many of the disadvantages are not unique to tourism, but can be attributed to other economic activities in rural areas as well. The table gives a listing of the main points, as they have emerged from numerous analyses of tourism practice (many interesting cases illustrating these issues and ways to address them can be found in Boo, 1990; Lindberg, 1991; Wight, 1991; Whelan, 1992; Wells & Brandon, 1992; Lindberg et al, 1993 and 1998; McIntyre, 1993; Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996; France, 1997; Goodwin et al., 1998; Ashley et al., 2000; Carey et al., 2000).
Table. Advantages and Limitations of Tourism for Development
Advantages
- the positive scenario
Limitations and disadvantages
- the negative scenario
For local development
Ø Jobs (also for labour force with little formal education)
Ø Community income
Ø Enterprise opportunities
Ø Opportunities for training skills and upward mobility
Ø Diversify livelihoods
Ø Improved infrastructure and community facilities in marginal areas
Ø Institutional development
Ø Renewed cultural pride and self-esteem, appreciation of natural and cultural heritage
Ø Recreational and cultural facilities can also be used by residents
Ø Menial jobs only
Ø A ‘bad deal’ for communities
Ø Limited spin-off, high leakage
Ø Limited investment in training
Ø Inequitable distribution of all the above
Ø Conflict with agriculture and livelihood strategies. Risky investment.
Ø Infrastructure only for tourists, not residents, may result in hostility
Ø Local conflicts exacerbated
Ø Control by outsiders
Ø Disempowerment of residents
Ø Cultural disruption
Ø Conflicts over land rights
Ø Conflicts over resources between locals and migrants attracted by tourism success
Ø Possible competition with tourists for basic commodities makes them too scarce or expensive for locals (water, staple foods)
For economic growth
Ø Growing industry
Ø Steady prices (compared to traditional exports)
Ø Job creation, spin-off enterprises, and multiplier effects
Ø Attracts private investment
Ø Economic diversification
Ø Sustainable utilisation of natural assets
Ø Increased markets for local products
Ø Volatile demand
Ø High leakage out of economy; enclave tourism with few spin-offs
Ø Private control not partnership
Ø Over-dependence
Ø Over-use of natural resources
Ø May divert investments from other sectors or regions of higher local importance to tourism infrastructure elsewhere
For conservation
Ø Improved environmental quality
Ø Increased local benefits from wildlife justify its management as a land use option
Ø Enhanced local appreciation of values of nature
Ø Enhanced environmental awareness among tourists; possibly become private donors to conservation projects
Ø Economic justification for establishing PAs or investing in more effective management
Ø Revenues help to cover costs of conservation
Ø Benefits insufficient, narrowly distributed, and not visibly linked to conservation of the resource base.
Ø Capacity and other prerequisites lacking
Ø Conflicts with wildlife protected as tourist attraction (health risks, crop damage)
Ø Deforestation for infrastructure development or to supply fuel wood to tourists
Ø Pollution due to absent waste or sewage treatment at tourism facilities
Ø Disturbance of wildlife, trampling of sensitive vegetation
Ø Immigration as result of tourism success increases pressure on sensitive ecosystems
Tourist attraction, rising oxymoron
Tourism: attraction and drawbacks
New York's Little Italy not so Italian anymore
By Alvin Powell
Harvard News Office
Tourism changes everything it touches, homogenizing and sanitizing even as it brings in bodies and dollars.
This is tourism's "central paradox," according to Susan Fainstein, a Columbia
Columbia's Susan Fainstein explains that exotic locales marketed for their distinct culture and history become a little less exotic when the streets are teeming with tourists instead of local residents. (Staff photo Justin Ide/Harvard News Office)
University professor and author of the book on tourism "The City Builders." It's the task of local officials and regulators, she said, to keep those homogenizing forces in check even as they promote what can be an important contributor to a region's economy.
Fainstein, who spoke at the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Taubman Building on Thursday afternoon (March 4), outlined tourism's benefits and drawbacks in a presentation before about 40 people in the Taubman's Allison Dining Room. The event was sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government.
The point of tourism is to escape, even briefly, from life's problems, Fainstein said. So tourist destinations are under pressure to make themselves prettier, to add entertainment and insulate tourist areas from crime, and to hide away evidence of manual labor and poverty.
Exotic locales marketed for their distinct culture and history become a little less exotic when the streets are teeming with tourists instead of local residents. Some locations even change their physical look to meet the expectations of tourists, who in this information age can research even the most remote locations and who arrive with bags packed with expectations as well as garments.
"The old places take on new clothes," Fainstein said. "The real places are scurrying to remake themselves to match the expectations of what people think they should be."
Fainstein described different types of tourist destinations, each with their own characteristics. Tourist cities, such as Cancun and Las Vegas, are created with the tourist in mind. Converted cities, such as Detroit and San Antonio, have more uneven development, and attempt to keep tourists segregated from the rest of the city in special districts.
"In an effort to protect visitors from the city, they are separated," Fainstein said.
Her talk dealt mostly with a third category of city, historic and multicultural cities. Tourism in these cities tends to be much more integrated with the fabric of life.
But in integrating, tourism also changes.
Fainstein offered many examples, describing how tourism changes the experience of a place. Touring a historic European church, she said, is a different experience entirely from worshipping there. Touring a castle, she said, is a different experience from visiting there at the bequest of the king.
Given enough time, she said, tourism becomes part of the fabric of a place. In Venice, for example, glassmakers have been making things for tourists for so long that they're part of the background.
"For 200 years, people have been spinning glass to sell to tourists. That's what people in Venice do," Fainstein said. "The meanings of the places have changed."
Tourism promotes what Fainstein termed "fakery" such as the neighborhood Italian restaurants in New York's Little Italy, where the neighborhood these days is mostly made up of ethnic Asians, rather than Italians.
Though tourism has its drawbacks, it's not purely negative. As a form of economic development, it can be more stable than manufacturing, Fainstein said. Manufacturing jobs can be shipped out of state or overseas, but tourists coming to New York City can't go anywhere else but New York.
Jobs in the tourism industry have been criticized as being low-wage, seasonal, and exploitative. But Fainstein said they're also low-skilled, which makes them accessible to entry-level workers or those laid off from manufacturing jobs.
In addition to bringing dollars to a region, tourism can foster positive change.
Sports teams, conventions, and cultural institutions enrich the life for city residents as well as for visitors, she said.
In Harlem, Fainstein said, tourism has helped revive black culture. Streets are better lit, and jazz clubs and restaurants have opened. Still, Fainstein said, there is resentment among some residents.
"People say, I don't want to be in a 'zoo' walking down the street while a bus full of people seeing 'real life' goes by," Fainstein said.
That highlights the tension that tourism has always brought. The tension is familiar in traditional summer resort areas such as Cape Cod, where the local residents dread the annual onslaught of tourists, even as they rely on them for their livelihood.
"Tourism always inspires ambivalence among the people being visited," Fainstein said. "There is a question whether culture can be maintained, because once you sell it and market it, you change it."
New York's Little Italy not so Italian anymore
By Alvin Powell
Harvard News Office
Tourism changes everything it touches, homogenizing and sanitizing even as it brings in bodies and dollars.
This is tourism's "central paradox," according to Susan Fainstein, a Columbia
Columbia's Susan Fainstein explains that exotic locales marketed for their distinct culture and history become a little less exotic when the streets are teeming with tourists instead of local residents. (Staff photo Justin Ide/Harvard News Office)
University professor and author of the book on tourism "The City Builders." It's the task of local officials and regulators, she said, to keep those homogenizing forces in check even as they promote what can be an important contributor to a region's economy.
Fainstein, who spoke at the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Taubman Building on Thursday afternoon (March 4), outlined tourism's benefits and drawbacks in a presentation before about 40 people in the Taubman's Allison Dining Room. The event was sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government.
The point of tourism is to escape, even briefly, from life's problems, Fainstein said. So tourist destinations are under pressure to make themselves prettier, to add entertainment and insulate tourist areas from crime, and to hide away evidence of manual labor and poverty.
Exotic locales marketed for their distinct culture and history become a little less exotic when the streets are teeming with tourists instead of local residents. Some locations even change their physical look to meet the expectations of tourists, who in this information age can research even the most remote locations and who arrive with bags packed with expectations as well as garments.
"The old places take on new clothes," Fainstein said. "The real places are scurrying to remake themselves to match the expectations of what people think they should be."
Fainstein described different types of tourist destinations, each with their own characteristics. Tourist cities, such as Cancun and Las Vegas, are created with the tourist in mind. Converted cities, such as Detroit and San Antonio, have more uneven development, and attempt to keep tourists segregated from the rest of the city in special districts.
"In an effort to protect visitors from the city, they are separated," Fainstein said.
Her talk dealt mostly with a third category of city, historic and multicultural cities. Tourism in these cities tends to be much more integrated with the fabric of life.
But in integrating, tourism also changes.
Fainstein offered many examples, describing how tourism changes the experience of a place. Touring a historic European church, she said, is a different experience entirely from worshipping there. Touring a castle, she said, is a different experience from visiting there at the bequest of the king.
Given enough time, she said, tourism becomes part of the fabric of a place. In Venice, for example, glassmakers have been making things for tourists for so long that they're part of the background.
"For 200 years, people have been spinning glass to sell to tourists. That's what people in Venice do," Fainstein said. "The meanings of the places have changed."
Tourism promotes what Fainstein termed "fakery" such as the neighborhood Italian restaurants in New York's Little Italy, where the neighborhood these days is mostly made up of ethnic Asians, rather than Italians.
Though tourism has its drawbacks, it's not purely negative. As a form of economic development, it can be more stable than manufacturing, Fainstein said. Manufacturing jobs can be shipped out of state or overseas, but tourists coming to New York City can't go anywhere else but New York.
Jobs in the tourism industry have been criticized as being low-wage, seasonal, and exploitative. But Fainstein said they're also low-skilled, which makes them accessible to entry-level workers or those laid off from manufacturing jobs.
In addition to bringing dollars to a region, tourism can foster positive change.
Sports teams, conventions, and cultural institutions enrich the life for city residents as well as for visitors, she said.
In Harlem, Fainstein said, tourism has helped revive black culture. Streets are better lit, and jazz clubs and restaurants have opened. Still, Fainstein said, there is resentment among some residents.
"People say, I don't want to be in a 'zoo' walking down the street while a bus full of people seeing 'real life' goes by," Fainstein said.
That highlights the tension that tourism has always brought. The tension is familiar in traditional summer resort areas such as Cape Cod, where the local residents dread the annual onslaught of tourists, even as they rely on them for their livelihood.
"Tourism always inspires ambivalence among the people being visited," Fainstein said. "There is a question whether culture can be maintained, because once you sell it and market it, you change it."
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