Little is known about much of earth’s early history because

Little is known about much of Earth’s early history because it's really hard to find consistent and trustworthy data on the matter.

Scientists nowadays have many tools at their hands that help us understand more about the early history of our planet. However, most of it is based on speculation, theories, and it's hard to come up with hard evidence of these theories.

what the first or next guy says

the correct answer is “opportunity cost”. opportunity cost is what a company misses out because it decided in one option over another one. in this case, the company decided to invest in building a factory so it gave up another possible benefit or profit in order to achieve success with the factory.  

trade-off is not the correct answer since it is a situation in which you accept losing something in return for benefits in other areas.

and finally, consequence is a general term used to accept what it comes when you make a decision. it can be a positive or negative consequence depending if the decision you took was the correct one.