It feels weird to write about travel during a global pandemic. However, since we are all stuck in one place and airports are quieter than ever, it is a good time to reflect on contemporary travel. The climate crisis and ongoing destruction of habitats are threatening many of the world’s most important landmarks, urging us to visit them as soon as possible. At the same time, it is precisely the travel industry that is driving much of this damage and now is the last call to stop it.

To begin with, international travel is not something that should be taken for granted, even before the pandemic. At NYU Abu Dhabi, a place that prides itself on extensive global education opportunities, structural inequalities — such as having a “weaker” passport — or one’s financial situation, might make travel more inaccessible for some. And yet, frequent international travel has become one of the defining characteristics of our university experience.

There are multiple downsides to consider when it comes to traveling. While the tourism sector may seem benign, it has proven to be a carbon intensive industry. This intensity can be attributed to excessive consumption of goods and services while traveling, as well as the transportation involved. The aviation sector alone is responsible for approximately 2 to 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. For reference, one roundtrip transatlantic flight generates per capita emissions roughly equal to eight months’ use of a car.

Tourism is also a driving force for habitat destruction and loss of biodiversity in many parts of the world. Some extreme examples include hunting and poaching, but in many ways visiting wildlife reserves or rainforests can imply one’s support for encroachment on spaces that would otherwise be a safe haven for plants and animals. For example, tourists often physically contribute to damaging local ecosystems like in the case of irresponsible snorkelling in coral reefs.

Furthermore, the numerous social implications of tourism on local populations result in another dimension of problems. The necessity to provide high-end services and facilities for tourists often means stress on local resources, such as freshwater. In addition, there are issues like dependence on tourism as the sole source of national GDP which can lead to the vulnerability of the local economies and harm local social fabric due to the continuous and excessive presence of outsiders.

Despite the multitude of reasons not to travel, one event this summer made me feel the urge to go and see the world: the oil spill from a Japanese tanker in Mauritius. On July 25, MK Wakashio got stuck on a coral reef in Mauritius and, as the world was watching in suspense, the ship started leaking oil on Aug. 6. The images that circulated the globe in the next few weeks were heartbreaking: black puddles floating on the surface of pristine water, covering the beaches and houses at the shore.Local volunteers even set up barriers on the water — made of cloth, straw and human hair — all desperately trying to stop the flow of poisonous substance. The disaster killed at least 40 dolphins and whales, and put the livelihoods of residents of Pointe d’Esny in jeopardy for years.

This event shook me profoundly because it was a wake up call, allowing me to recognize how ephemeral the natural wonders of the world are. While the disaster in Mauritius is a salient example of this ephemerality, there are many such instances that go unnoticed. In the last 30 years, the volume of coral reefs in many places decreased by 40 to 50 percent — a loss that will never be recovered unless we reverse climate change and ocean acidification. There are 27,000 rhinos left in the wild, down from half a million a century ago. Beyond the popular species, there are thousands of others at the risk of extinction. To that, we can add annual losses of thousands of hectares of forests, a large swatch of glaciers and all other types of biomes.

The oil spill in Mauritius made me realize ever so acutely that I might be a part of the last generation that has a chance to see wonders like Arctic polar bears and Australian koala bears in the wild. From this point of view, it seems clear why travel is in such high demand — later might be too late. With most of us stuck at home so it might be a good time to realize: at this pace of industrialization and economic growth, we are bulldozing our way through the natural environment, leaving nothing but concrete for future generations to see.

So-called “sustainable tourism” companies are on the rise. It is not until we, collectively, learn how to be satisfied with what we have that we begin to prevent the loss of wilderness and beauty. Of course, this does not refer to those who don’t have the privilege to indulge in a highly consumerist lifestyle. This is an immense task that will require us to rewire our mindsets and shift the goals of our economy, but success will mean a better world for us and future generations in areas well beyond tourism. This is not to say that we should stay at home forever — but we must get rid of the consumerist frenzy as our main driver for leaving it.