VOA慢速英语2023--Climate Change Creates Questions for Alaska's Tourist Economy

Climate Change Creates Questions for Alaska's Tourist Economy

Alaska's Mendenhall glacier¹ is about 20 minutes by car from Juneau, the state capital. It is one of the area's most popular sites for tourists.

But climate change has caused the ice to melt and the glacier to retreat. That means it is losing more snow and ice than it gains. Researchers from the University of Alaska, Southeast say the Mendenhall glacier retreated about 800 meters between 2007 and 2021.

Mendenhall pours down from rocky land between mountains and into a lake filled with icebergs³. Special signs mark the glacier's retreat, showing where the ice once stood.

Experts estimate that by 2050, people will not be able to see the Mendenhall glacier from the visitor center that was built for it. That is already the case at some other glacier visitor centers in Alaska.

The melting glacier leads to questions for the Alaskan tourism industry. Does it make sense to build visitor centers for glaciers⁴ if they will not be useful in the future? How can tourism leaders help protect the glaciers for visitors to enjoy? And should there be limits on the number of tourists to the area?

Local leaders, tour companies, large boat operators and the U.S. National Park Service are all considering these questions.

Future of tourism

Tourism is an important part of Juneau's economy. About 1.6 million cruise⁵ ship passengers are expected to stop in Juneau in 2023. That is the most ever in one year. On especially busy days, 20,000 people arrive each day to a city that has only 30,000 full-time⁶ residents.

Cruise ships are large boats with sleeping places that carry tourists from one place to another. Many cruises⁷ start a weeklong trip to Alaska in either Seattle, Washington, or Vancouver, Canada.

Manoj Pillai is a cruise ship worker from India. He recently got off his ship and went to see the Mendenhall glacier. "The glacier is so beautiful now," he said. But he wondered what it must have looked like 10 or 20 years ago.

Jennifer Dumas lives in Washington, D.C. She knows what Alaska's glaciers looked like in the past. She and her husband first visited the state and its glaciers in the 1990s. She told about seeing another glacier not too far from the Mendenhall glacier over 20 years ago. She went to Glacier Bay National Park and spent the night near the McBride glacier.

"Where we used to camp, where you could see the glacier. It has receded⁸ so far, you can't see the glacier anymore. So we have pictures of us in front of the glacier, that you can no longer take those pictures."

Visitor limits

People have many reasons to want to visit Alaska, and all the visitors help the state's economy. But in Juneau, tourism officials are questioning whether the city and surrounding areas can deal with so many visitors each year.

Alexandra Pierce is the city's tourism manager. She said she and others are discussing what a sustainable tourism industry should look like.

City leaders and major cruise lines have agreed to a daily five-ship limit for next year. As many as seven ships a day have arrived this year. But critics worry that may not do much to reduce tourist numbers because the ships themselves keep getting bigger. Some Juneau residents say they would like one day a week without ships.

Kerry Kirkpatrick has lived in Juneau for nearly 30 years. She said she can remember when the Mendenhall glacier was "long across the water and high above our heads." She called the glacier a national treasure. She noted⁹ that the area may not be able to keep up with all the helicopters, cruise ships and visitors that want to see Mendenhall.

"There's too many people on the planet wanting to do the same things," Kirkpatrick said. "You don't want to be the person who closes the door and says, you know, ‘I'm the last one in and you can't come in.' But we do have to have the ability to say, ‘No, no more.'"

Words in This Story

glacier –n. a very large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley or over a wide area of land

tourist –n. a person from far away who goes to visit somewhere new for fun

iceberg² –v. a a very large piece of ice floating in the ocean or another body of water

cruise –n. a vacation where people ride a boat that they sleep on from place to place

resident –n. a person who lives full-time in a place

sustainable –adj. able to continue for many years without causing damage

1 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

2 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

3 icebergs   

n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The drift of the icebergs in the sea endangers the ships. 海上冰山的漂流危及船只的安全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The icebergs towered above them. 冰山高耸于他们上方。 来自辞典例句

4 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

5 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

6 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

7 cruises   

v.乘船巡游( cruise的第三人称单数 )；以快而平稳的速度长距离行驶；巡航；轻而易举赢得（或获得）

参考例句：

• Cruises on the Thames in London, have become an annual attraction. 在伦敦泰晤士河上的巡航已成为一年一度的引人注目的事。 来自辞典例句
• Throughout the year traders and recruiters arrive from far, dry cruises. 一年到头，总有商人和募工者经过干渴的长途航行来到这里。 来自辞典例句

8 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。