How climate change could disrupt the future of travel, according to a new study

Better weather is one of the reasons people travel. But a new study suggests that a limited number of "outdoor days" may influence where they decide to travel. A scientific paper published in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Climate Journal presented an innovative way to measure the impact that climate change will have on destinations around the world, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Street days and climate change

Researchers have come up with the concept of "outdoor days" to predict how much time certain countries will be able to spend outdoors throughout the year. The term is defined as 24-hour periods when the weather is considered suitable for people to spend time outside. "Changes in the number of outdoor days will directly affect how people around the world perceive climate change," said MIT environmental professor Elfatih Eltahir to Bloomberg.

Predictions for the future

The data showed that countries like Russia and Canada will actually have more outdoor days by 2100, as spring weather will arrive earlier in the season.

• Russia and Canada will have more street days by the year 2100.
• France, Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom will experience an increase in street days by the end of the century.

However, alpine ski enthusiasts may not be as excited about the warmer weather. At the same time, Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa will lose street days to baking heat. "There is a clear difference between the Global North and the Global South," Yonwoo Choi, an IIT postdoc and member of the research team, told Bloomberg.

Losses of street days in various regions

• The Dominican Republic will lose 124 street days a year.
• Mexico, India, Thailand, and Egypt will lose between 55 to 86 street days annually.
• The UAE is predicted to lose 85 street days.

Due to the hot heatwaves from May to September, along with increasing droughts and wildfires, the study estimates that Greece will lose more than 30 outdoor days by 2100. "This really shows how deeply the travel sector will be affected by climate change," adds O'Shannon Burns, a sustainable tourism consultant and program director at the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University, "and the importance of planning climate action at the destination level."