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International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) PE
PED-01 Deep Earth: - from crust to core Sierd Cloetingh et al.
New perspectives are evolving in understanding the structure and evolution of the lithosphere. Nature, dynamics, origin and evolution of the lithosphere are elucidated by international multidisciplinary geoscience research projects and coordinating committees.
The International Lithosphere Program (ILP) seeks to achieve a fine balance between: "addressing societal needs", e.g. understanding natural catastrophes and other solid earth processes that affect the biosphere, providing information for improved resource exploration and environmental protection; and "satisfying scientific curiosity".
PEE-01 Earth and Health: - building a safer environment Olle Selinus et al. Invited speakers: Olle Selinus, Bob Finkelman, José Centeno, Jane Plant, Eiliv Steinnes, Edward Derbyshire
Geological factors play key roles in a range of environmental health issues that impact the health and well-being of billions of people worldwide but there is a general lack of understanding of the importance of these factors on animal and human health among the general public, the biomedical/public health community, and even within the geoscience community. Therefore the contributions aim to show the importance of geology and geochemistry on health of humans and animals.
PEG-01 Groundwater: - reservoir for a thirsty planet Tony Jones et al.
Nearly all the potentially drinkable water on the Earth exists as groundwater. New techniques of exploration and production, and improved understanding of the dynamics of natural water reservoirs, are helping Earth scientists find this most precious of all commodities.
PEH-01 Hazards: - minimizing risk, maximizing awareness Tom Beer et al.
The Earth can be a dangerous place, and is often made more dangerous by human intervention. Crucial to minimising the hazard potential from different geological threats facing people all over the world, is the accurate assessment and communication of risk.
PEM-01 Megacities: - our global urban future Frauke Kraas et al.
Urban areas, often concentrated on narrow coastal strips, are running out of space and the price of land is sky-high. More and more, architects will wish to switch from building high to building deep. This is more expensive in the short term, but much more sustainable in the long term. A physical change to how an urban landscape develops has many direct impacts (e.g. socialization, emotionally, physically) on those who live within such conurbations. A better understanding of the urban environment and its impact on our species – and indeed other species - has huge implications for society.
PER-01 Non-renewable resources - towards their sustainable use Richard Sinding-Larsen et al.
Nearly everything we make or build, and nearly all the energy we use, comes out of the Earth. Modern society is increasingly dependent on mineral and fossil energy sources. They are non-renewable; they differ in their availability, in the cost of production, and in their geographical distribution. The Earth is not running out of critical mineral resources or aggregates - at least for the near future - but the ability to explore for, and produce, those resources is being restricted in many regions by competing land use, as well as political, and environmental issues. This symposium will cover key resource issues associated with the geological, technological, and social constraints related to the sustainable use of non-renewable resources.
PES-02 The Earth's Critical Zone and Hydropedology Henry Lin, Alexander Gennadiyev, Michael Sommer Invited speakers: Larry Wilding, Vala Ragnarsdottir, Iain Young, Harry Vereecken, Lis Wollesen de Jonge
The earth’s Critical Zone (CZ) provides a promising framework for holistic studies of water with soil, rock, air, and biotic resources in the earth system. This zone is generally viewed as that part of the earth from the top of vegetations to the bottom of aquifers, which determines the availability of nearly every life-sustaining resource and provides the foundation for all human activities. Within this CZ is the foundation of soil that functions as a living geomembrane through which water, solutes, energy, gases, solids, and living organisms dynamically exchange with the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere, hence creating a life-sustaining environment. Water is the plasma that drives many of these interactions and circulates solutes and nutrients in the CZ. The interaction of soil and water often dictates the interface between the biotic and abiotic in ecosystems. Because of such critical role soil and water play together, hydropedology has emerged in recent years as a viable new interdisciplinary field of study that addresses interactive pedologic and hydrologic processes and landscape-soil-hydrology relationships across space and time, aiming to understand pedologic controls on hydrologic processes and properties, and hydrologic impacts on soil formation, variability, and functions. The goal of this session is to promote the integrated studies of the earth’s Critical Zone and to advance hydropedology through synergistic collaborations across scientific disciplines, including soil science, hydrology, geomorphology, geology, ecology, biogeochemistry, and others. All components are important for the CZ functioning and we welcome all specialists, but special attention will be paid to the role of water. The synergistic integration of hydrology with pedology, geomorphology, and other related bio- and geo-sciences into the CZ science and hydropedology provides a renewed perspective to study landscape evolution, water-energy-element cycles, and biogeochemical dynamics across scales, and their relations to climate change, ecosystem sustainability, earth system, land use, and contaminant fate.
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