This article develops an approach that applies macroeconomic concepts to the interpretation
of complex, water related natural processes. By translating and re-interpreting these
processes into a language that is more accessible to a broader audience otherwise
unaccustomed to its terms will likely help sharpen our understanding of the terrestrial
water cycle. For economists, we describe climate-forming natural processes in a manner
consistent with the fundamentals of the mainstream approach. For noneconomists, parallels
from economically determined, relatively short-term observations can be applied conceptually
to identify dynamics which occur over much longer and therefore more elusive natural
occurrences, in particular considering the role of forests and how persistent land
conversion over a millennium has shaped the earth's surface and impacted climate stability.
The set of "supporting ecosystem services" highlighted in the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MEA) coincides with the ground phase of the terrestrial water cycle, taking
the concept beyond the ecosystem service perspective and identifying it as a planetary
service. Ecosystem and planetary services differ in the same way that microeconomic
and macroeconomic perspectives do. The water cycle intensity of a geographical area
may well be related to a rainfall multiplier that measures the ability of continental
ecosystems to increase the amount of water moving across terrestrial surfaces and
descending as rainfall through transpiration and deposition, and re-transpiration
and re-deposition of the water content in the air that originally arrives from the
oceans. Building upon the MEA's association of human wellbeing with ecosystem features,
the rainfall multiplier serves as a physical indicator and measure of the natural
basis of wellbeing creation. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water
as Imagined and Represented Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness
Human Water > Value of Water
