Role of Geosciences studies in

Environmental Sustainability

Submitted by:
Manju Singh Rajput

Role of Geosciences studies in Environmental

Sustainability
The UNCED Environmental Conference (United Nations Convention on Biological
Diversity) in Rio de Janeiro 1992 has changed the world. The convention recognized for the
first time in international law that the conservation of biological diversity is "a common
concern of humankind" and is an integral part of the development process and a key to
environmental sustainability and sustainable development. The challenges facing human kind
to become more sustainable are very complex. Solution of this complexity requires
innovative approaches and use of multiple disciplines in the technological, natural, and social
sciences.
The extreme difficulty of conducting controlled geologic experiments, the scarcity of the
geologic record, the inability of expressing a number of geological principles mathematically,
and the intrinsic complexity of earth systems have made geoscientists more agile in
interpreting phenomena, even in case of high scientific uncertainty. For example climate
change: Geoscientists have provided a historical data for the climate state that has prevailed
since the advent of our civilization, and they have shown the catastrophic effects that rapid
climate change can have on the earth system (For E.g.: Extinction of woolly rhinoceros,
mammoths and flora and fauna of Ice age).Geoscientists have helped rule out the role of nonanthropogenic drivers on the changes in sea level, global temperature and rainfall patterns
that have been observed during the last century.
With a continuously rising human population, rising demand for natural resources, concerns
about food & clean water security, and a changing climate, it is critical to more fully integrate
Earth observations for a sustainable planet. In this present scenario Geosciences can help
meet the challenges of modern life in a delicately linked Earth system. Geo- environmental
issues which are really important to tackle for the environmental sustainability and
sustainable development can be divided in following broad categories.

1. Ensure reliable Energy supply in an increasingly Carbon constrained

world: Geoscientists have played vital role in meeting the energy demands
worldwide by exploiting & exploring hydrocarbon resources. World is addicted to the
hydrocarbon, because its cheap, plentiful, easy to mine, & it has been an abundant
energy source for industrial development the world over. But from the last few
decades industrialisation, increasing wealth in emerging market (especially India &
China) and globalization have led to increase in worldwide energy demand.
To mitigate the energy demand and climate change geoscientists have been working
on to find other potential fossils fuels e.g. Gas hydrates, coal bed methane, UCG and
are trying to find eco-friendly methods to exploit them. Underground Coal
Gasification (UCG), which has potential to increase coal reserve worldwide in
environment friendly manner. In this process coal is converted in situ into a
combustible gas that can be used as a fuel (Active in Australia and Uzbekistan).

Environmental benefits of UCG include: lower fugitive dust, noise and visual impact
on surface, lower water consumption, low risk of surface water pollution, reduced
methane emission, less surface combustion of coal
etc. Geoscientists are also
focussing on to develop renewable energy sources as alternate for fossil fuel.
Renewables provide around 3% of the worlds total energy needs.
2. Provide sufficient supplies of Water: Only about Earths 2.5% is fresh water,
rest is salt water. Depleting aquifers and contamination of fresh and groundwater are
resulting in scarcity of drinking water. As professional explorers, geoscientists and
hydrologists can identify new fresh, often deeply seated and more remotely situated
groundwater resources. Geoscientist have three-dimensional map of subsurface,
knowledge of composition of sediments/rocks, knowledge on the rock mineralsgroundwater interaction. They can detect the pollution plumes underground and can
prevent groundwater from contamination.
3. Soil resources: Agricultural soils are seriously under threat. Humans activities
such as deforestation, absence of land-use management techniques (e.g. slash and
burn), & excessive use of toxic agrochemicals improper disposal of waste have
resulted in extensive soil losses or soil degradation. In china 5 billion tonnes of fertile
soil lost every year due to river transportation, desertification and salinisation which is
1/12 of the earths soil. Geoscientists may study fluvial and coastal processes to
understand local and regional problems thus pinpoint more areas of fertile land e.g.
large and fertile alluvial Indo-Gangetic plains. Application of erosion models could
help to design planning & management systems to prevent fluvial and coastal erosion.
4. Urbanisation: 50% of the Earth population lives in cities that cover only a few
percent of the total land surface of the globe. Sustainable urban development is
therefore a matter of high priority on the international environmental agendas. To
find the subsurface cavities, finding the depth if the foundation rocks, and specify the
construction standards & codes, and specifying the width of roads and streets to
mitigate potential geo-hazards. Mapping three dimensional images of subsurface
helps to know suitable sites for buildings, bridges and roads.
5. Mineral, metal, and building material resources: Mining has never held in
high-esteem due to its horrendous consequences on the environment. But due to
increasing demand of raw material for sustainable development it cannot be afforded
to avoid mining all together. The new research and technologies and trends such as
dematerialisation, whereby less use of virgin material is used for production,
production of waste material is minimized and useful material are recycled to the
maximum extent possible, beneficial use of mine waste and rehabilitation of mine
land, hence contributing to ecological- sustainable development.
6. Waste management to maintain healthy environment: Domestic waste is
mostly stored on or near the surface near or in the immediate vicinity of urban centres.
And if pile of debris are situated on permeable beds allowing leachate to enter the
aquifers. Natural geological barriers (impermeable bodies) prevent transport of

contaminants like toxic and radioactive elements into aquifers. Sustainable waste
disposal is based on the multi-barrier principle, looking for impermeable or poorly
permeable beds such as thick clay bodies, rock salt or shale as natural barrier to
leachates before entering into the biosphere. This particularly applies to highly toxic
radiation waste and mine tailings.
7. Mitigate risk from natural hazards: According to the International studies of
Natural Disaster Reduction of the United Nations show that in the period 19902011,
more than 300,000 people were killed or reported missing as a result of natural
disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and landslides. The total economic losses
caused by these disasters in that period exceeded 500 billion US$, which is about
0.2% of the worlds Gross Product.
Several efforts are made by scientist to mitigate the hazard due to earthquakes by
trying to control fault motion, either by injecting fluids to lubricate sections of the
fault plane, or by pumping out fluid to lock the fault. This experiment was done by
US army in 1962 near Colorado.
Indian Tsunami Early Warning System (ITEWS) started fully fledged operation in
October, 2007 which is able to issue Tsunami warning in less than 10 minutes after
any major earthquake in Indian Ocean.
8. Sustain Ocean, Ecological resources and Atmosphere: Oceanographers
use their knowledge of geosciences to study the motion and circulation of ocean
waters; the physical and chemical properties of the oceans; and how these properties
affect coastal areas, climate, and weather. The Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing
System (GOOS) made up of ocean and climate scientists and government officials to
collect data from seas and oceans. Using the data, models of ocean sea surface
temperature in Indian Ocean can help more accurately forecasting for tropical
cyclones. And trends in coastal sea level change can help Pacific Island countries in
urgent coastal adaptation strategies.
Using remote sensing data e.g. colour infrared photographs assist in the forest
management and formulation of management plans for damaged areas and in
rehabilitation of deforested areas.
Geoscientists are combating climate change by working on the some eco-friendly
techniques. One way to combat is to prevent the release of CO2 to atmosphere by
storing in depleted oil and gas reservoirs. Or in another way injecting CO2 can
enhance oil recovery (EOR), after injection a fraction of CO2 remains in the field.
This technique is safe and environmentally acceptable.
Therefore for environmental sustainability and sustainable development it is important to
study Earth closely and geosciences offer a very good opportunity for that. More strategic,
timely and reasonable investments in geosciences are required to integrate scientific
understanding of environmental issues and to develop effective environmental policies.
Hence geoscientist can contribute to solving the environmental issues with more holistic
approach in next decades, even more that today.