The significance and value of a
knowledge of the Geological Sciences
(or, why study rocks, mud, and dead
bones?)
"Tell me
about the past, and I will know the future" (Confucius)
Frank Richter (Professor of Geophysics at Chicago, and a National
Academy of Sciences member) claims (reference below**) that geology
programs alone provide a unique, and uniquely valuable experience
for university students in that only in geology do they get to
combine a distinctively historical, and pragmatic,
observational approach in combination with exact
analytical/experimental techniques using highly sophisticated
computational and analytical devices. We also maintain that only
from the evidence of geology may students gain a full appreciation
for the history of life; particularly for the immense time it has
taken for life on earth to reach its present development, and for
the huge changes in environmental conditions that have taken place
in the geological past, with highly significant impact on all living
things (for example, mass extinction events, including the event 65
million years ago which extinguished the dinosaurs). The recent
geological past (20,000 yr), with rapid deglaciation and 120 meter
rise in sea level, and large climatic changes, is particularly
relevant. The changes brought about by humans over the last few
hundred years, including very high rates of species extinctions,
represents one of the most significant events in Earth's
4,500,000,000 year history (entirely derived, prior to the written
and archaeological records, from the evidence of geology). Only
students that have been exposed to courses in geology can be
expected to appreciate fully the evidence for these things and the
significance of the challenges and political choices that await us
in the likely event of anthropogenically-induced global climate
change. For the most part, the general public is poorly aware of the
serious limitations of earth resources, particularly the fact the
world's petroleum reserves are now at peak production and will be
severely diminished within about 40 years. Geology is also the only
program where students may learn about natural geological hazards
(earthquakes, volcanos, landslides, floods, erosion, etc.) and the
assessment, reduction and avoidance of these. Geology is also
essential to understanding and planning rational responses to the
needs for long-term radioisotope disposal, the remediation of
contaminated groundwater, and the prevention of future pollution of
groundwater by hazardous materials.
**Richter, F. (1991). Geology and the university. Geotimes,
v.36 (9), p. 5
So, why is this subject no longer being offered at the University at
Albany? Good question - do ask the reponsible Albany administrator
exactly that........
Global Warming/Climate Change - evidence
from geology, and atmospheric science
Peak Oil - what the geologists say (and they,
before anyone else, ought to know)
The alien in the globe - (he is us) -
environmental degradation caused by humans, and the possibility
(slim though it may be) of stopping it
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