8.2 - Resource Use in Society Flashcards
(18 cards)
Natural income
The rate of replacement for natural capital
Natural capital
Resources that can be generated and/or replaced as fast as they are being used
Examples of natural capital
Marketable commodities such as timber and grain (goods)
Ecological services such as the flood and erosion protection provided by forests (services).
What is sustainability?
Living, within the means of nature, on the ”interest” or sustainable income generated by nature capital.
Sustainability can be encouraged by:
Ecological land-use to maintain habitat quality and connectivity for all species.
Sustainable material cycles, (ex carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles).
Social systems that contribute to a culture of sufficiency that eases the consumption pressures on natural capital.
How might some economists view sustainble development?
Stable annual return on investment regardless of environmental impact
How may environmentalists view sustainble development?
Stable return without environmental degradation
Explain how extraction, transport and processing of a renewable natural capital may cause the exploitation of natural capital unsustainably [Amazon Rainforest]
Increased soil erosion
Leaching of nutrients
Decreased water quality
Possible landslides
Eutrophication
Sedimentation
Increase of greenhouse gases from transport
Reduction of biodiversity
Intrinsic value:
Values that are not determined by their potential use to human, their value is given vary by culture, religion, etc. E.g. a statue
Economic value:
Value that are determined from the market price of the good and services a resources produce.
Ecological value
Value that have no formed market price but are essential to human e.g. photosynthesis
Aesthetic value
No market price, similar to ecological value,(basically things that look good). E.g. landscape
Why may goods valued on aesthetic or intrinsic grounds remain undervalued or unpriced from an economic viewpoint
They may not provide commodities identifiable as either goods or services
What does much of the sustainability debate weigh on?
How to weigh the conflicting values in our treatment of natural capital
Explain how natural capital is dynamic in nature and how its value and status changes over time and space according to cultural, social, economic, environmental, technological and political factors.
The value of resources changes over time and with various other factors. During the Stone Age, fossil fuels were worthless because the internal-combustion engine had not yet been invented, but arrowheads were very valuable because they allowed people to hunt and therefore eat. In modern times, we need fossil fuels to maintain many of the processes in society (communication, transportation, electricity production), so that fossil fuels have a high economic value now, but because we’ve developed many different ways to get enough food to eat, the arrowheads are no longer economically valuable.
Why is lithium valuable
Lithium batteries are a relatively recent development and are used widely in micro-electronics. Mobile phones, for example, contain lithium batteries. It is especially important for the production of e-car batteries. This has meant that the value of lithium as a resource has increased dramatically.
Example of renewable natural capital that has been mismanaged
Renewable Natural Capital
African forests are significantly shrinking. Trees and vegetation cover are being cut down for various uses. Most of the people use firewood as the energy source. Also, most of people’s livelihood depends on forests as well as land, leading to the increased deforestation. Generally it is one the environmental challenges in Malawi and developing countries at large. For example in Malawi about 10,000 ha.forests were being deforested annually between 1981 to 1985. This number continues through today.
Examples of mismanaged non-renewable natural capital
At present, the most important energy sources used by the Indian population are non-renewable sources of energy. Indian economy is largely based on fossil fuels, minerals and oil. The value increases because of the large demand, but the supply is decreasing. This has resulted in more efforts to drill and search other territories. The environment is being abused and this depletion of resources is one way of showing the effects. The consumption of petroleum has multiplied itself almost thirty times in the post-independence era
