Why Economics at HRI?
Economics is the study of how humankind allocates its scarce resources given its unlimited wants.
The Gulf of Mexico region is a finite resource and yet we are asking more of it each passing year.
Increasing populations along the coasts as well as inland, climate change, and economic uncertainty lead to increased pressure on our natural resources.
Economics provides some of the tools to address the issue of conservation and balanced growth.
Ecosystem Services in the Gulf of Mexico
Humans benefit from a variety of products and services provided by ecosystems. These resources are known as ecosystem services (ES) and include products like fresh drinking water and services like storm surge protection.
Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems rapidly, mostly to meet fast growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, and fuel. These changes have created net gains for human well-being and economic development, but they have also degraded many ecosystem services.
The challenge now is to halt and then reverse the degradation of ecosystem services while meeting the needs of a growing population.
Oysters: Provisioning Service of Food
Source: 2011 Allerina and Glen MacLarty
Our group seeks to make the connection between the natural environment and human well-being that will translate into better decision-making regarding our natural assets.
Special emphasis is placed on inventorying, mapping, and valuing ecosystem services in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico and in assessing the economic impacts of climate change. Economics is important to address the issue of conservation and sustainable growth.
Socio-Economics Group Short-Term Goals
- Develop a Gulf wide network of economists and other social scientists.
- Create the Ecosystem Services Valuation Database for the Gulf of Mexico.
- Educate policy-makers, business, and the general public on the importance of integrating economics of the environment into the decision-making process.