Ecosystem services: Pricing nature's freebies

Economist: FREE lunches, economists insist, are rare. In one sense--related to the opportunity cost of sitting down to eat when you could be doing something more productive--they are right. In another, though, complimentary feasts are rather common. As are free clean water, fuel, air-conditioning, pest control and pretty views. All these are "ecosystem services", provided by nature to mankind at no cost. Push nature too hard, though, and this generosity may end. A new paper by John Dearing, of the University...

URL: http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/07/ecosystem-services?fsrc=gn_ep&test=babbage&utm_source=buffer&buffer_share=c8034
Enclosure: http://www.esd.ornl.gov/benefits_conference/nature_paper.pdf