Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
marketplace. Consider the four areas that have been highlighted as
major concerns—the rising seas, the acidifi cation of the oceans, hurri-
canes, and species loss. These are primarily natural systems rather than
market processes. None of these is in any real sense produced by fi rms
or measured in the marketplace the way food and housing are.
It is no accident that many of the most signifi cant impacts of climate
change occur outside the market. Markets are mechanisms for social
control and management of natural resources and other systems. Archi-
tects design houses to protect their occupants from heat and cold, fl ood
and earthquake, bugs and wild animals. Agricultural specialists design
irrigation systems, pesticides, and seeds to protect crops against natural
hazards that ruined farmers in earlier times. Dikes and seawalls are
designed to prevent water damage from storms. All these systems some-
times fail spectacularly, as did the seawalls in Japan during the 2011
tsunami, because human designs are intelligent but not perfect.
Of all the areas we have examined, the impacts of climate change
on species and ecosystems are the furthest from the market. They con-
sequently raise the deepest issues of both analysis and valuation.
VALUING ECOSYSTEMS AND SPECIES
Most people agree that we should prevent the loss of species and
valuable ecosystems. However, major diffi culties arise when we try to
measure the value of these systems. How much will people pay or sac-
rifi ce to prevent the loss of wildlife and species? How much for iconic
creatures like polar bears? How about coral reefs? How do we think
about protecting the estimated 700,000 as-yet-undiscovered species of
spiders?
Some may object that even asking these questions displays a crude
materialism—that trying to weigh life against money is an immoral
act. But this is surely wrong. The real immoral act involves omitting the
values of these species when we count up the losses from climate change.
Some people believe that ecosystem impacts are indeed the most sig-
nifi cant damages to put on the scales when we weigh costs and benefi ts.
Moreover, preventing loss of ecosystems and species, particularly
those associated with rising CO
2
concentrations and global warming, is
