Geology 101: Earth Processes and Environment

Transcription

1 1 Course Introduction 2 Geology 101: Earth Processes and Environment Syllabus & overview of topics The big challenges Why Geology Matters Dr. Steve Kuehn What is environmental geology? Major Earth systems and cycles Course web site: What do geologists do? Why be a geologist? Course overview: 3 Earth Materials Minerals and Rocks 4 Age and history of the Earth Fig 9.13 Understanding Earth images from Understanding Earth Plate Tectonics Earth on the move 5 Geologic hazards - faults and earthquakes 6 This Dynamic Earth - USGS Turkey - Chapter 18 Understanding Earth 1

2 Volcanoes and volcanic eruptions 7 Landslides 8 Redoubt volcano, Alaska in USGS photo plume-dds-39-img0065.jpg Seattle, WA Billion Dollar Disasters 9 Flooding flood in Liuzhou, China Chapter 13 Understanding Earth Water resources and drought Water resources and water quality Owens Lake, CA 2

3 Mining: Mineral & Energy Resources Energy Resources Near Rawl, West Virginia. Image: Glaciers, Ice ages, and Long-term climate changes 15 Glaciers, Ice ages, and Long-term climate changes 16 Fig Understanding Earth 17 Humanity s Biggest Challenges 18 Energy, Air Pollution, & Climate Population growth drives increasing demand for resources Economic growth and increased living standards multiply this increase Linear vs. exponential growth 1,000 Image credit: Reichard, 3

4 Humanity s Biggest Challenges Declining availability & quality of many resources Rapid resource consumption Pollution and environmental change/degradation Deals with issues related to the interaction between people and our environment Directly addresses many of humanity s biggest challenges Reducing the impacts of hazardous Earth processes Includes: Adapting to continuing environmental & climate changes Sea level rise Changes in precipitation, temperature, and storm patterns Hazards & risks Resources Environmental change and degradation Relationship to politics, government, economics, health, war, etc Economics and (vs.) Environmentalism One challenge: disconnected economics The indirect costs or impacts of resource consumption are often not factored in to the direct cost of those resources How are costs allocated? Who pays? Who should pay? (externalities) Image credit: Reichard, 21 Economics and Environmentalism Why do we have environmental regulations? (Are they just for the owls, frogs, and fish??) Why do we have regulations on land use and construction? 22 Examples? The Dangerous Disconnect Between Economics and Ecology Economics vs. Ecology Ecocide and Capitalism s Crisis It's time for a new economic paradigm Putting a value on nature could set scene for true green economy How does insufficient regulation cost us? How are those costs allocated? Who is affected, and who pays the bill? How can we find a balance? 23 Earth as an Interconnected System 24 Hazards vs. risks Goal: To reduce the risks to human populations and the environment 1-23 Image credit: Reichard, 4

5 Some Major Earth Cycles 25 Some Major Earth Cycles 26 Water Carbon Fig Understanding Earth Nitrogen Some Major Earth Cycles 27 Source: What do geologists & earth scientists do? Resource exploration, extraction, conservation, & management Minerals, Oil, Gas, Water, Soil, etc. Natural hazards assessment, protection Floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, coastal erosion, severe weather Environmental cleanup Water/air quality, pollution, mine remediation Consulting Teaching & research 28 Others: energy, atmosphere, ocean, rock More: (Why Earth Science) Where do geologists & earth scientists work? Oil & gas companies Mining companies Environmental & consulting companies Engineering & construction firms Federal Government (USGS, USFS, BLM, NASA, national labs) State & local governments Universities Schools and more. 29 Where the Jobs Are (and who is seeking those jobs) Change the equation STEM Jobs, jobs everywhere (in earth science), but not enough people to fill them Good salaries in geoscience 95% of geology students are happy with their degree; Best result in poll. Demand for math, science jobs only expected to grow (Aug 28, 2013) When Grades Suffer, College Students Ditch Science, Math -- Along With Good Jobs (Aug 28, 2013) College Grad, Will Work for Food (Aug 2013)