As Greece burns with wildfires brought on by the warmest year in a century and France's Abondance ski resort closes for good due to a chronic lack of snow, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is gearing up for its second annual summit on Tourism and Climate Change. Seems like it's none too soon. As much as tourism as a whole is an industry uniquely positioned to raise global sensitivity and awareness, and as much as the tourism industry relies on things like coral reefs, sunny weather and predictable snowfall, tourism can also be a notorious culprit when it comes to carbon emissions.

So the industry's mission is twofold: Figure out how to respond and adapt to the impacts climate change is already having upon the industry, then clean up its own act so it can serve as a shining example of success in a carbon-neutral world. Neither challenge offers up no-brainer answers: two of the most obvious vacation destinations – beaches and ski resorts – could both be obliterated as sea and snow levels continue to rise. The irony is that these catastrophes could be caused, in part, by the climate change brought on by vacationers spewing carbon as they drive and fly to exotic ski resorts and picturesque beaches.

Our very own Alision Gannett's leads the charge for the ski industry, using ski champions as spokespeople. Meanwhile, the UK's Surfers Against Sewage wages their own wacky-yet-serious battle to protect our beaches.

The tourism industry is in a perfect position to powerfully but subtly sound the alarm. When we travel to idyllic places, the industry can help us understand the challenges they face and how our own decisions affect them. Taking it a step further, through programs like Hertz and Avis' "Green" rental car programs or airline programs allowing us to easily offset the emissions from our plane trips, the industry can also make it simple for all of us to make the lowest-impact choices when we travel. It may not be the be-all, end-all solution we'd all love to find, but hey – every little bit counts, right?