News
In Chile’s Southern Tip, a Bet on Hydrogen Worries Conservationists
The growth of green hydrogen in the Magallanes brings heated debate about wind farms, a bird sanctuary and the region’s ecosystems.
By Alexa Robles-Gil
The birds are like clouds in Bahía Lomas. Far off in the southern tip of South America, in the province of Tierra del Fuego, migration takes its highest form in this bay in the eastern mouth in the Straits of Magellan.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
State of Play
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”