Tropospheric ozone, air pollution and tourism: a case study of Mallorca

Abstract

This study explores tourists’ contribution to air pollution through an analysis of tropospheric ozone levels. Although the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere is beneficial, preventing damaging ultraviolet light from reaching the Earth's surface, ozone in the lower atmosphere, known as tropospheric ozone, can damage plant species, both natural materials and manufactured goods, and can damage lung tissues in humans. Additionally, ozone in the upper troposphere exerts a considerable impact on global warming. Using the case study of Mallorca (Spain) – an isolated, intensive tourist destination in the Mediterranean – a daily indicator of tourist numbers is used in order to capture direct and induced pressure on the environment. Models based on daily data are estimated using meteorological, daily tourist numbers and other significant variables, showing how rising tourism activity in Mallorca is associated with rising daily concentrations of tropospheric ozone, created by transport, air conditioning and other activities. The estimated models make different simulations possible, showing the consequences of increasing tourism numbers during different seasons. The concluding section shows the potential to develop the models used here for other destinations.

对流层中的臭氧，空气污染和旅游：马略卡岛的案例研究

该研究通过一个对对流层中的臭氧水平的分析探索了旅游者对空气污染的贡献。尽管臭氧层在高层大气中是有益的，能防止紫外线伤害到达地球表面，臭氧在低层大气中，被称作为对流层中的臭氧，能伤害植物，自然资源和生产的产品，并且伤害人类的肺组织。另外，在高层中的臭氧对全球变暖发挥出很大的影响。使用马略卡岛（西班牙）的案例一个在地中海孤立的，密集的旅游目的地一个旅游者人数的每日指标被用来旨在得到对环境造成的直接的和导致的压力。研究使用气象，每日旅游者人数和其他重要的变量来估计出建立在日常数据的模型，显示出马略卡岛的旅游活动的增长是和对流层中的臭氧浓度的每日增长相关的，这是由交通，空气质量和其他活动引起的。估算出来的模型使不同的模拟成真，显示出在不同的季节中提升旅游数量的后果。结论部分显示出为其他目的地发展可以使用的模型这样的潜力。

Keywords:

• externalities
• air pollution
• tropospheric ozone
• tourism impact
• Mallorca

关键词:

• 外部条件
• 空气污染
• 对流层中的臭氧
• 旅游影响
• 马略卡岛

Notes

¹See, for instance, the Sustainable Development of Tourism Programme of the UNWTO at http://sdt.unwto.org/; the Tourism and Environment Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme at http://www.unep.fr/scp/tourism/, and different environmental activities promoted by the World Travel and Tourism Council at http://www.wttc.org/activities/.

²Data and description of the monitoring station can be seen at http://www.caib.es/sacmicrofront/contenido.do?idsite=145&cont=3249&&lang=es.

³The AIC is used to judge the adequacy of a regression model; in comparing two or more models, the model with the lowest AIC value is preferred (Gujarati, 2004).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Oscar Sáenz-de-Miera

Oscar Sáenz-de-Miera has a PhD degree in tourism and environmental economics. He completed his PhD in 2011 with a thesis ‘The Influence of Tourism Road Transport on the Generation of Externalities: A case study for the Balearic Islands’. He has published in Accident Analysis and Prevention and Tourism Management.

Jaume Rosselló

Jaume Rosselló is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (Spain) where he teaches microeconomics, tourism economics and tourism demand modelling. Because of his interest in tourism modelling he has taken part in many competitive research projects financed mainly by public administrations, with results published in Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Tourism Economics, Journal of Sustainable Tourism and Journal of Travel Research. He is director of the Masters Programme in Tourism and Environmental Economics at the University of the Balearic Islands.