Integrating ecosystem modeling into economic models: applications to efficiency analysis, gross ecosystem product, and policy analysis

Abstract

Unless you are one of the 676 people who have traveled to space as of November 2023, you will have spent your entire life living within the biosphere, a relatively thin layer above and below the Earth’s surface, where life exists. Spending our entire existence surrounded by the biosphere, it can be easy to take it for granted. But a livable biosphere is crucial for the health and well-being of humanity. One way to see the fundamental importance of the biosphere is to imagine living outside of it. In the science-fiction novel The Martian, an astronaut finds himself alone on the surface of Mars and must figure out how to survive in an unforgiving environment, including meeting basic requirements like providing food and maintaining a breathable air supply. The Martian drives home a basic point: the Earth, unlike Mars or anywhere else in the universe as far as we know, provides humans with an essential life support system. When an article published in Nature estimated that the total annual value of the Earth’s ecosystem services was $33 trillion, economist Mike Toman wryly commented that it was a “serious underestimate of infinity.”