Two (2) reasons to Consider Geophysics for Enviromental Sustainability

Our environment is very important to be conserved as it is the only place that we are living. Ask yourself that if it is destroyed where shall we live? The reality is that we should develop with our environment but this should not make the sense that we should use it inappropriately, and here is where the term Sustainable Development came from.

It is well known that Environmental sustainability development can be defined as efficient utilization of Earth's resources to bring social, economic human development at present time without ruining (compromising) their availability  to the next (future) generation. I want to make it clear that we can do activities that can benefit us in today's life but with no (with less) destruction to the environment for the future generations.

That is why today I have written to you this piece of article to raise your awareness on how we as geoscientists play this role, however because geoscience itself is a general term I have to be specific that I shall restrict myself on how the geophysical science are playing this key role in ensuring sustainability for our Earth's resources.

Due to the rapid advancement and innovation of geotechnologies in today's world, I think it is a suitable time to conserve our environment. Okay! I hope this is clear to everyone.

And the fact that some geophysical techniques stand out from the crowd of other geoscience techniques in contributing this role. Follow up this post to grasp the concept and the reasons on how this is true.

non - destructive nature

As the term describes the nature of some geophysical techniques such as ground penetrating radar (GPR) can be used without (with little) direct leading to destruction of the environment or causing pollution. This means this technique can be used in contributing development projects without harming the environment.

Another geophysical technique such as gravity method falls in this nature as the only gravity distribution is measured depending on rock density distribution on that area without any requirement for destroying the site.

The same case in magnetic technique at which magnetic susceptibility is measured depending on distribution of magnetic materials without need for destroying the site. And the best fact of this technique is that it can be used to map the presence of subsurface metallic objects such as metal ordinance, buried  bombs so it can be used for forescic studies to ensure environment are safe.

Radiometric techniques also have not left behind as they can potentially be used to monitor and mapping environment radiation distribution, so that critical points can be identified, so that environment radiation dosing can be evaluated. Hence appropriate measures can be utilized in preventing or reducing environmental radiation and to make it safe for human life.

Also electrical resistivity technique can be used to map the groundwater quality and identify the potential highly polluted areas, for further environmental remediation.

remote sensing operation principle

Also the working nature of geophysical techniques still gave them higher credits in conserving our natural environment. Remote sensing in a layman term is simply the process of acquiring information about your target (area of interest)  without direct physical contact with it.

This means that there is no need for your sensing equipment to come physically in contact with what you want to observe. The very simple example of this in our daily life is using your eyes to see a distant object without becoming physically in contact with it.

Also the same principle is utilized in Most of geophysical techniques, for example we can send the seismic waves into subsurface and record back the modified seismic waves and use them to make an image of the inside of the Earth without us having to go into it. This is an example of artificial seismic reflection technique which is widely utilized in petroleum exploration.

And the good news is that there are advanced Aerial geophysical techniques such as Airborne gravity, Aerial Magnetics techniques at which the gravity and magnetic distributions respectively on the Earth's surface  can be mapped from air without need of physical contact.

Also the advancement of Drones technology makes some geophysical surveys to be carried out at a height lower than that of Airborne. All these are Remote sensing technology which makes geophysical techniques to support environment conservation and hence environmental sustainability.

All in all geophysics play an important role in ensuring environmental sustainability, however this statement is valid when we utilize non - destructive geophysical techniques.

Thank you for your time.

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