The tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. On a local,national, and international level, tourism is economically significant. Yet, tourism hastriggered a lot of environmental issues because of many ways people make their marks astourists. The depletion of natural recourses, among the various issues, is particularlynoteworthy. The depletion of natural resources is a growing concern especially in placeswhere resources are already scarce. Water, in particular, is considered a critical naturalresource. In general, water is overused in places such as hotels, swimming pools and golfcourses. Golf tourism has gained popularity, but the maintenance of golf courses requireslarge quantities of water, which can lead to water scarcity. Tourists also tend to overusewater for personal use, resulting in larger quantities of waste water and water shortages.Water scarcity is an even bigger concern in dry and hot regions such as the Mediterranean.Tourists have the tendency of consuming more water when they visit places with a hotclimate. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), tourists can useup to 440 liters of water per day. The tourism industry can also put pressure on landresources such as minerals, fossil fuels, fertile soil, forests, wetlands and wildlife. More andmore tourism and recreational facilities are being built, but their construction can pose athreat to wildlife and local ecosystems. Land resources, such as forests, are also impactedwhen used for building materials or collected for fuel. Tourist attractions andaccommodations are also heavily reliant on energy resources for heating, hot water andelectricity.
1. In the passage above, the word depletion is closest in meaning to ______.
(A) reduction
(B) malfunction
(C) acquisition
(D) capacity