Applying Fuzzy Logic to the Estimation of Environmental Degradation Trends in Iran

During recent years several attempts have been made toincorporate environmental and natural resources degradation intonational accounts. gnp as measured by the traditional system ofnational accounts does not consider environmental degradationcaused by inefficient exploitation of natural resources. while thecomplete omission of environmental impacts is not possible, therecould be an optimal level of environmental degradation. however,environmental degradation cannot be quantified easily. therefore,there is a need for a different approach to estimate the level ofenvironmental degradation so that it can be accounted for in thegnp. in such cases where sufficient data are not available,especially for the past, the fuzzy logic method is practical. thispaper applies the fuzzy set theory to estimate the trends ofenvironmental degradation in iran in the period 1959-1998.