Ecosystem services

Finally a language even any economist can understand: We use and are dependent upon services that the ecosystem provide, such as clean water, fish pollination and a stable climate. These services can, of course, be provided by us humans as well, but it wouls cost very much more. Examples:

The bees have disappeared in parts of China, so no (free) pollination service anymore. People have to walk around with brushes and pollinate. It takes approximately 10 persons to perform the same amount of pollination as one colony of bees.

The river Jordan doesn't reach it's destination anymore, the water is used for irrigation of fruit. What if the river would stop completely?

The Aral lake doesn't exist anymore. The water was used to irrigate cotton fields. All that is left is a stinking hole of pesticides and DDT. It would have been wiser to use slightly less water and still produce cotton, wouldn't it?

New York was about to loose it's supply of clean fresh water. They had basically two options: Protect and restore Catskills, the area where the water had been gotten from until now. Or they could build a water purification plant. They chose the first option. It cost them 1,5 biljon dollars. A lot of money, sure, but the plant would have cost them 7-8 biljon and would have needed, annually, another 300 million.


What we need to do is to realise that these services are vital to our economy and damages to them are extremely expensive. We have to learn the limits of the ecosystems we depend upon.


Those of you lucky enough to speak Swedish should watch Planeten, a brilliant TV series about the state of the planet. The material is mostly in English, so you could all watch it and get the main picture: There is a crisis, but it's fully possible to solve. If we act NOW!