雅思阅读

📖 Reading Passage

The concept of 'environmental debt' has gained traction among economists as a framework for understanding the long-term costs of resource depletion. Unlike financial debt, which is quantifiable and subject to repayment schedules, environmental debt is often diffuse and intergenerational, meaning that those who benefit from resource extraction today may not bear the full consequences of ecosystem degradation. This asymmetry raises ethical questions about sustainability and justice. Some scholars argue that technological innovation can offset environmental debt by increasing efficiency and enabling substitution of scarce resources. However, critics contend that such optimism overlooks irreversible thresholds, such as biodiversity loss or climate tipping points, where damage becomes catastrophic and irreversible. Thus, while the metaphor of debt highlights accountability, it may oversimplify the complex, non-linear dynamics of ecological systems.