A sub-primer on Ecological Economics:Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand”, Market Failures, Ecosystem

Services, and The Monetization of the Human Ecological Footprint

Don’t get me wrong about Adam Smith.I believe modern Neo-Classical Economists have

mis-interpreted him

Adam Smith andThe Wealth of Nations

Space as a Market Failure…

Classic Market Failures

Ecosystems and Market Failure

The Earth from Space at Night:Explorations of the Human-Environment-Sustainability

Problematic using Nighttime Satellite imagery

Outline

Where in the Universe could you take this photograph from?

Example of Cloud Screening over Italy

Nighttime Satellite Imagery Geo-location, Time Series Analysis, Spectral information, and

Spatial Patterns allow for the differentiation of City Lights, Gas Flares, Squid Fishing, and Forest Fires

Estimation of urban populations globally How Good are the ‘known’ numbers and who cares?

When did the world population reach 6 billion?

Proof of Concept with U.S. Data

Using these Methods across the Globe:

What was the total global population was in 1996?

6.3 Billion rather than 5.9 Billion

Disaggregate or ‘Intra-Urban’ estimates of Population Density

Does Light Intensity within an urban area correlate with Population Density?

What’s Going on in 1 km2?(this lesson on ‘scale’ informs the Space Station Photography movie later)

Graphical Representation of the Model

What do the Errors look like?

Do Low Light Levels Map ‘Exurban Areas’?

Metro Denver Area with inset of Highway 285 Commuter Shed South West of Denver

Suburban and …

Suburban and Exurban Homes

Day & Night images of ‘Exurbia’

Making Disaggregate (a.k.a. finer spatial resolution)

Maps of Economic Activity

Scatterplot of Night Light Energy & PPP of GDP for 208 nations

Global map of Economic Activity as measured by Nighttime Satellite Image Proxy

Coastal Wetlands and Storm Protection: A spatially explicit estimate of ecosystem service value

Ecosystem Services as ‘Public Goods’

Valuation of Ecosystem Services:Putting a dollar value on a ‘non-market’ service

‘Geography’ or ‘Why Space Matters?’:Spatially Explicit Valuation of Ecosystem Services

The Data Story for Valuation of Storm Protection from Coastal Wetlands…

The Damage Table (N = 34 Hurricanes)

The Storm Tracks (N = ~100)

Buffer Existing Storms to 100 km (50 km per

side) and Match to Damage Table (N=34)

Fleshing out the Table: 1) Population in Swath

Fleshing out the Table: 2) GDP in Swath

Fleshing out the table: 3) Wetlands in Swath

ln (TDi /GDPi)= a + b1 ln(gi) + b2 ln(wi) + ui

TDi = total damages from storm i (in constant 2004 $US);GDPi = Gross Domestic Product in the swath of storm i (in constant 2004 $US). The swath was considered to be 100 km wide by 100 km inland.gi = maximum wind speed of storm i (in m/sec)wi = area of herbaceous wetlands in the storm swath (in ha). ui = error

The Aggregate Conclusion

Mapping Impervious Surface Area with Nighttime Satellite Imagery

We have paved over 110,000 square miles

(Ohio is about 116,000 square miles)

Paving the Planet: Mapping and Monetizing Human Impact on the Earth

Approach and Assumptions

Global Estimates of ISA have been developed using simple OLS models

derived from DMSP nighttime imagery and LandScan Population Density

These Models are applied Globally

Impervious Surface Area is a reasonable proxy measure of Ecological Footprint

Mapping the Dollar Value of Ecosystem Services

Global Datasets of Net Primary Productivity have been developed and explored

This is hopefully a provocative exercise exploring ideas of carrying capacity, I = P*A*T, Ecological Footprints,

Ecosystem Service Valuation, and Sustainable Development

Spatially Explicit Representation of$ Value of NPP - $ Cost of Impervious Surface

Aggregate National Map of Dollar Benefit of Ecosystem Services using NPP proxy

Top 20 ‘Surplus’ Nations

The Top 20 ‘Debtor’ Nations

Discussion Questions?

Summary

Questions?Privatization of the water supply

Good Idea?