The Patagonia catch-22

Catch-22: "A dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions." 

 

In all its beauty, Patagonia can also be an unsettling place to visit, trapped within mutually conflicting and dependent conditions: tourism and climate change. It has become a hot-spot in Argentina for international tourists along with Buenos Aires, but some of Patagonia's most prized locations such as the Perito Moreno Glacier near El Calafate or the penguins on Isla Martillo near Ushuaia face threats from increasing temperatures, and are simultaneously visited by increasing numbers of tourists each year. It’s the ultimate catch-22: Crowds of tourists fly in from around the world to see these wonders before they’re gone, yet it is our desire to travel which contributes to CO2 emissions and increasing temperatures which put at risk the places we love to visit. 

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In conversations with Argentines in different provinces throughout the country, most said that they would never have the chance to see Perito Moreno for themselves because of how expensive it is. Argentina is in the midst of one of its worst recessions yet, with inflation surpassing 100 percent. But the prices of food, transportation, tours and lodge in El Calafate and Ushuaia were not only higher than in some European cities, but were sometimes five times higher than in Buenos Aires, which is already considered an expensive city for Argentine standards. Indigenous communities and locals often cannot afford the high cost of living that has come with the increasing tourism, while the impacts of climate change like flooding, drought and extreme temperatures shake up the ecosystems and communities. 

 

The Argentine government has enacted a number of laws to protect Patagonia, including the National Parks Law, Law on Forests, Environmental Impact Assessment Law, National Glacier Law, Water Resources Law and laws that establish indigenous land-conservation rights in Patagonia. The regions themselves are in great condition. But these aggressive laws cannot exactly protect Patagonia from the the global shift in temperatures brought on by worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, which are at an all-time high and eight percent of which are contributed to by tourism. Greenhouse gas emissions from tourism increased by 60 percent between 2005 and 2016 as flights have become cheaper, and for Argentina's case, places become safer and more catered to international visitors. In Patagonia, international visitor numbers have surged since 2017 according to statistics which show a tripple in numbers. 

 

It all poses the question as a photographer who has just traveled over 13,000 km by plane: why do we feel the need to visit places that seem almost too pristine, too remote, too fragile for us to even be allowed to step foot in? 

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