Chapter 1

Humans, Geology, and the

Environment

Pipkin • Trent • Hazlett • Berman

 Have You Ever Wondered?
1. If and why we really need to be concerned about
“overpopulation”?

2. Why many environmentalists are so concerned

about high levels of consumption in wealthy
countries such as the United States?
 Have You Ever Wondered?
3. Why many environmentalists are so concerned
about the way we produce our food?

4. What a scientist is, and how scientists work?

5. What “GPS” and “GIS” are?

 Environmental Geology
 Study of how the natural processes of the physical
Earth apply to problems humans face in dealing
with the environment

 Proposes potential solutions and methods for

dealing with environmental problems
 Environmental Problems
 Many problems: global warming, pollution, abuse
of natural resources

 Collective behavior can bring positive changes

 Both individual and large-scale efforts are needed

Figure 1-1 p3
 IPAT Equation
 I=PxAxT
 I = Influence
 P = Population
 A = Affluence
 T = Technology
 Qualitative with no exact numbers
 IPAT Equation Consequences
 Wealthy developed countries use far more
resources and cause more pollution per capita
than poorer countries

 Average American consumes 35x resources of the

average Indian

 I = P for less-developed countries – environmental

problems more obvious
Table 1-1 p5
 Carrying Capacity
 Maximum size of a population that can be
maintained indefinitely
 Wolf population dependent upon size of deer
population
 Deer population dependent upon amount of
edible vegetation
 Ecological overshoot: population size exceeds
resources and dies back
 Human Carrying Capacity
 Thomas Malthus, 1798: human population size
limited by food supply
 Science increased the food supply:
 Fertilizers
 Genetic modification of foods
 Pesticides and herbicides
 Soil erosion and depleted groundwater
 Human population sustainable?
Figure 1-7 p7
 The Scientific Method
1. Geologist poses an interesting question

2. Geologist makes observations and collects data

3. Geologist formulates hypothesis to explain

observations and data

4. Geologist announces conclusions – often

tentative
Figure 1-10 p9
Figure 1-11 p9
 Tools: Maps
 Topographic maps
 Geological maps
 Faults
 Springs
 Scarps
 Rock layer angles: strike and dip
 Soil characteristics
 Water table depths
Figure 1-12 p10
 Tools: Gadgets and More
 Compass

 Surveying tools

 Global position systems (GPS)

 Derivative maps

 Geographic information systems (GIS)

Figure 1-13 p11
 Typical Projects
 Pollution in soil and water
 Land destabilization
 Natural disaster risks
 Soil properties of proposed construction sites
 Coastal erosion
 Storage of solid and liquid wastes
 Dam site location and evaluation
p17
 Case Study: Population Growth
and Its Effects
Compound growth equation…
N = No X ekt
 N = future quantity
 No = present quantity
 e = natural log 2.71828
 k = rate of change, in years (growth rate)
 t = time in years
Table 1-2 p15
 Case Study: Population Growth
and Its Effects (continued)
 Doubling time = 70/growth rate
 Countries with greatest environmental impact
usually have lowest growth rates
 High growth rates in poor countries
 Women not empowered
 Incentive to have children for old-age care
 Lack of family planning knowledge and methods
Table 1-3 p15