The Last Resort: A Chronicle of Paradise, Profit, and Peril at the Beach

Beaches are “a paradise both threatening and threatened,” according to this thought-provoking survey from journalist Stodola (Process). Though tourism is “the third-largest export globally” and “provides more than one in every ten jobs worldwide,” Stodola travels the globe to highlight how coastal towns that largely depend on tourism are changing due to climate change and have become hotbeds of social inequality. In Nicaragua, she explores how the country’s reputation went from one of “violence” to one with a “part hipster vacation scene, part groovier WeWork,” and in Tulum, Mexico, she takes in the damage caused by overdevelopment: “Tulum has become a study in paradoxes, where ‘eco-resorts' run on bungalow-size diesel generators, their waste seeping through the delicate limestone ground into the vast underground river system.” Throughout, Stodola shows the effects of, as well as coastal towns’ response to, climate change: Sea walls are built in Barbados to combat erosion, and roads are raised in Miami Beach as the tides reach ever higher. Stodola wraps up with steps the tourism industry can take to make for more “durable and inclusive” beach resorts, including sourcing food and drink locally and limiting the numbers of visitors. The result is a fascinating look at the dangers of climate change. (June)