Ecosystem Services 101 with Hank
2010-01-11 · explainer · Hank · 3:52 · watch on YouTube
Topic: Science & nature (also: Nerdfighteria) · mode: Explainer · tags: recurring series, on location, community lore
Hank opens a 'teaching' theme week by teaching John about ecosystem services: ecologists and economists put dollar values on what nature does for us (the Catskill watershed, a $33 trillion global estimate), so the environment is good for the economy.
What is said
The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).
00:00:00 — Skiing for the views; announcing the teaching theme; Hank's Master of Science vs John's 'froofy' Bachelor of Arts
- ★★ Hank announces the week's theme, teaching, which he says he wanted to do since before they had themes. — 00:00:00
- ★ Hank is skiing, but the kind that is mostly looking at stuff, not steep downhill slopes; he is not much for adventure and finds it fun. (playful) — 00:00:00
- ★★ Hank contrasts his Master of Science with John's 'froofy' Bachelor of Arts: he can teach John scientific explanation, John can teach him that the Gatsby billboard was God or something. (playful) — 00:00:00
- ★ Hank says the steep downhill skiing he avoids killed a Kennedy and Sonny Bono in 1997, the year he turned 17. (playful) — 00:00:00
- a number in question (doubtful): "1997" — check against the recording
00:00:50 — What ecosystem services are; New York City's Catskill watershed instead of an $8 billion filtration plant
- ★★★ Hank explains ecosystem services: all life on Earth does useful things for people, such as providing pharmaceuticals, regulating weather, filtering water and cleaning air. — 00:00:50
- ★★★ Hank says ecologists combined their science with economics to put dollar values on the services ecosystems provide. — 00:01:19
- ★★★ Hank says when New York City's water became undrinkable, restoring the Catskill watershed matched an $8 billion filtration plant at about a tenth of the cost. — 00:01:19 · New York City
- ★★ Hank says New York City has some of the best water of any American city, and the Catskill ecosystem keeps up although water use keeps growing quickly. — 00:01:48 · New York City
00:02:18 — The 1997 global valuation (~$33 trillion), topsoil and beauty; the environment is good for the economy; ask for John to teach on Wednesday
- ★★★ Hank says scientists and economists in 1997 estimated the world's ecosystem services at about 33 trillion dollars, about twice the value of the whole world economy. — 00:02:18
- ★★ Hank says the creation of topsoil alone is worth about as much as the whole current global economy. — 00:02:47
- ★ Hank says the valuation included a category for beauty, which he is enjoying today and has spent money on, from his boots to the gas to drive out. (playful) — 00:02:47
- ★★★ Hank argues that despite the supposed battle between capitalism and the environment, the environment is very good for the economy; destroying ecosystems for gain costs us in the long term. — 00:03:16 · capitalism
- ★★ Hank says this is one reason ecology is fascinating and important, and everyone should know more about it. — 00:03:16
- ★★ Hank tells John he expects him to teach Hank something on Wednesday. — 00:03:45
Threads in this video
- milestone · Vlogbrothers in 2010: the channel's end-of-year reinvention (2009) — Hank declares the first theme week under the 2010 Monday-theme rule: teaching. (00:00:00)
- refine · Are human interests and nature in conflict, or are humans part of nature? — Hank argues the environment-versus-economy battle is mistaken: ecosystems provide free services worth more than the world economy, so destroying them costs us long term. (00:03:16)
- asked · Hank asks John to teach him something for the teaching theme week (2010) — Hank asks John to teach him something in his Wednesday video, for the teaching theme. (00:03:45)
Where the stories that moved here went next
- Hank asks John to teach him something for the teaching theme week (2010) — reported back; last: result reported, 2010-01-13
- Vlogbrothers in 2010: the channel's end-of-year reinvention (2009) — past edition (2010); last: milestone, 2010-01-20
Mentioned
Central: ecosystem services
Also: People: Sonny Bono
Works: global ecosystem services valuation (1997) · The Great Gatsby
Rituals: Theme week
Concepts: capitalism · ecology · economics · false dilemma
Places: Catskill watershed · New York City
Later videos replying to this one
- 2010-01-13 · Froghoppin' with Gatsby (John) — answers corrects (result on Hank asks John to teach him something for the teaching theme week (2010)) — Answering Hank's request, John teaches Hank about The Great Gatsby: the billboard's eyes, not the billboard, stand for God, and why that matters. (00:00:29)