Why a Chilean salt flat is a microcosm of the extractive frontiers of green capitalism
Source: The Guardian ·
In the Atacama desert, the extraction of lithium – so crucial to addressing the climate crisis – comes with escalating social and environmental costsA high-altitude desert plateau traverses Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. I am on the Chilean side, sitting in a Jeep along with two other researchers. The afternoon air is thin and brisk but the sun is piercing – a combination I am familiar with from…
From the source
A high-altitude desert plateau traverses Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. I am on the Chilean side, sitting in a Jeep along with two other researchers. The afternoon air is thin and brisk but the sun is piercing – a combination I am familiar with from years of living and travelling in South America’s Andean range. The landscape is a study in contrasts and contours: broad basins suddenly cut off by sweeping curves; flat expanses sliced by near vertical ascents. The Licancabur volcano looms large above us. Vegetation and humidity levels change rapidly with the rising altitude, bringing cooler temperatures, wetter air and denser plant life. We are driving to the Salar de Atacama – the Atacama salt flats – the largest of several dozen salt flats in northern Chile, and the third largest in the world. The brilliant white flat lies in a high basin 7,500ft above sea level, enclosed by the even higher Andean mountains to the east and the Domeyko mountains to the west. This striking landscape –…
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