Physical damages associated with climate change impacts and the need for adaptation actions in latin America and the caribbean

Abstract

Changes in climate during this century will have broad impacts on human activities and ecosystems, and the likely consequences are of such a magnitude that the simultaneous need to adapt to the new climate conditions and to reduce the carbon footprint to prevent even further damage will likely become one of the main driving forces for the global community over the coming decades. We attempt to simultaneously address two main questions related to the climate change challenge for Latin America and the Caribbean. First, what are the key physical impacts and consequences of climate change? Second, what are the likely costs to the regional economies derived from these impacts? Results indicate that conservative annual damages are about US$100 billion by 2050 and the overall investment required to adapt is approximately one-fourth to one-sixth of the costs associated with those impacts. Rapid and decisive adaptation actions are urgent to reduce the magnitude of these effects although some irreversible damages would remain as adaptation measures do not generally result in the full restoration of lost natural and cultural capital.