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)
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
Go to the Geological Sciences index page
Return to Bill's quotes
or, if you really won't accept the evidence for global climate change,
the likely consequences, and peak oil, and the finite nature of
hydrocarbon resources, or the destructive environmental effects of more
than 7 billion humans on a small planet
uageo.www.expressspacetransit urges you to take the alternative of a free one-way (non-refundable) ticket to Alpha
Centauri.......