1	Environmental Geology Cassie Strickland, instructor
2	How will we Study E.G.? WHAT is Environmental Geology? Review of Scientific Method Geology Background: The planetary environment i.e.Minerals, rocks, plate tectonics review Exploring Environmental Geology: Interactions between humans & Earth’s physical surface processes Interactions between humans & Earth’s internal processes Humans & use of Earth resources Humans & waste/contamination issues
3	What is Environmental Geology? Study of interactions between geologic processes and the surface environment where humans live Is an ‘applied’ science We will look at how: Rapid increase in human population has caused people to move into geologically hazardous environments Slower, smaller scale inter-relationships that humans affect on the environment and vice verse.
4	Why Study E.G.? Increases in Human Population have: Forced humans to live in hazardous areas Environmental Geologists Need: To understand nature of threat, prediction and mitigation Rapidly exhausted Earth’s non-renewable resources Environmental Geologists Need: To explore/survey & recover resources; understand impact on natural environment from these endeavors Placed humans in competition w/other species for basic renewable resources Environmental Geologists Need: To assess affect of farming & other land use on natural environment
5	Baby Boom! 1830 world population = 1 billion 1930 = 2 billion 2009 = 6.75 billion By 2050 = Projected to reach 9 billion! 2009- we may be exceeding Earth’s ‘Carrying Capacity’
6	Result: Clash between Humans & Environment Urban Development in geologically hazardous environments. Catastrophic examples: Volcanic areas, i.e. Seattle & Mt. Rainier Hurricane-prone areas, i.e. Gulf Coast & Hurricane Katrina Seismically-active areas, i.e. Cascadia/Juan de Fuca Subduction Zone Floodplains, ie. Chehalis/Centralia, Nov. 2008 Human impacts/Impacts on Human on a slower, smaller scale Chronic examples Loss of top soil due to farming, i.e. local! Degradation of water quality due to urban & agricultural runoff, i.e. Yakima River Degradation of air quality by pollution, i.e. LA smog Resource consumption, i.e. US oil consumption
7	Summary: Impacts of Human Population Renewable Resource Consumption Supporting our population’s food & water demand Creates by-products from farming & supplying water (e.g. dams) Non-renewable Resource Consumption World demand exceeds world reserve of mineral/fossil fuels Uneven Distribution of Resources Available land, water, mineral and energy resources create societal & political problems Disruption of Natural Systems Land, oceans, streams, lakes, air quality and biodiversity affected by human activities with environment Modern mass extinction event- 27,000 species/year lost
8	End introduction
9	Hurricane Katrina August 2005
10	November 2008 Flooding Chehalis River
11	Mining & Oil Industry