 |  Environmental Science: A Global Concern, 7/e William P. Cunningham,
University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham,
Vassar College
Barbara Woodworth Saigo,
St. Cloud State University
Ecological Economics
Chapter OverviewWhat is a chapter on economics doing in an environmental science text, you ask? For starters, economic activity not only is what we humans spend much of our time engaged in, but it is also an important cause of the environmental impacts we seek to understand. In fact, a central question in environmental science is: Can economic growth and environmental protection coexist indefinitely? Many feel that ever-expanding economic activity could bring disaster to the earth’s life support systems. Although economists pose the question differently, no one denies that this subject is important.
Ecologists and economists look at things differently, and you will learn about their disagreements in this chapter. This chapter, perhaps more than any other, reveals the important role conceptual frameworks play in how we interpret things around us.
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education