Environmental and Natural Resources Economics — Flashcards

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An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area working together with all the non-living factors of the environment.

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Source function allows humans to use the environment through recreation and harvesting of resources, and it gets depleted as resources are consumed. Sink function is the ability of the environment to …

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Overuse reduces the source function, overloads the sink function, and lowers the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. This leads to climate change, ozone depletion, land degradation, and loss of biodiv…

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Resources have utility, limited availability, and consumption. A resource provides benefit, is not unlimited, and gets used up or transformed during use.

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A good or service is scarce if the amount a person requires is greater than the available amount. Scarcity creates the basic economic problem because human wants are unlimited while resources are limi…

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A country may achieve temporarily high GDP by overexploiting natural resources or by misallocating investment. Such growth may look strong in numbers but is not sustainable.

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GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, measures a nation’s total income and the total output of goods and services produced domestically. It is different from GNP.

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GNP = GDP + Factor Payments from Abroad - Factor payments to abroad. GNP measures total income earned by nationals or residents of a nation.