Climate change is expected to have a significant impact on global outdoor activities, according to a new study published in MIT’s Journal of Climate. The study introduced the concept of “outdoor days” to forecast how much time certain countries will have to partake in alfresco activities throughout the year. Outdoor days are defined as 24-hour periods where the weather is considered suitable for people to spend time outside.
The study found that countries in the Global North, including Russia and Canada, will actually have more outdoor days by 2100, with spring-like weather appearing earlier in the season. France, Germany, Austria, and the UK will follow suit, with annual gains between 18 and 60 outdoor days by the end of the century.
However, countries in the Global South, such as the Ivory Coast, are expected to lose outdoor days due to scorching hot temperatures. Popular tropical destinations like the Dominican Republic will suffer the greatest decline in temperate, year-round weather, with 124 fewer outdoor days per year. Mexico, India, Thailand, and Egypt will also lose a significant number of outdoor days annually.
The study also found that Mediterranean hotspots like Greece are expected to lose more than 30 outdoor days by the year 2100 due to blistering heatwaves between May and September, coupled with increased droughts and wildfires.
The findings of the study have implications for the travel sector, which is expected to be deeply affected by climate change. “This really drives home how deeply the travel sector is going to be affected by climate change,” said O’Shannon Burns, sustainable tourism consultant and program manager at Cornell University’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise. “And the importance of climate action-planning at the destination level.”
