1. Environment, environmental issues, environmental geology and sustainable development
What is the environment? The environment refers to the surrounding things that are related to a central thing. On our earth, the central thing is human beings, and the environment refers to the space surrounding human beings and the totality of various natural and social factors that can directly and indirectly affect human life and development. Article 3 of the General Provisions of Chapter 1 of the Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates the connotation of the environment as follows: "The environment referred to in this Law refers to: atmosphere, water, land, mineral deposits, forests, grasslands, wild plants, wild animals, aquatic organisms, places of interest and historic sites, scenic spots, hot springs, recuperation areas, nature reserves, residential areas, etc. ”
The environment is the space for human beings to survive and live, and it is also a necessary prerequisite for human survival and development. However, compared with the 50s of the 20th century, there are many problems in the current environment, such as the rapid expansion of population, the sharp reduction of forests, the serious desertification of land and soil erosion, the obvious increase in water and atmospheric pollution, global warming, the obvious greenhouse effect, the increasing scarcity of fresh water resources, the increasing depletion of resources, and so on, which have endangered the existence of the entire life organism, including human beings. People are beginning to wake up to the need to pay attention to environmental protection and sustainable development, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable. In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development, headed by the Prime Minister of Norway, Mrs. Brundtland, officially used the concept of "sustainable development" in the book "Our Common Future". Two years later, the 15th session of the UN Council for the Environment issued a statement on "sustainable development", which stated that "sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". It also stipulates that this development involves cooperation within countries and across national borders. In 1994, the State Council of the People's Republic of China promulgated the "White Paper on China's Agenda 21 ———Chinese, Resources, and Environment" for the first time regarded the economy, society, resources and environment as an inseparable whole, and that China's economic development should not be at the cost of polluting the environment, and that economic development and environmental improvement should develop simultaneously, and that environmental costs should be considered in economic development. Environmental protection is one of our national policies.
In short, environmental geology is an important part of the environment, and environmental geology is mainly the study of the upper part of the earth's lithosphere, including the water environment, the soil and the rock environment. In his book Environ-mental Geology (Fifth Edition), Edward A. Keller, a well-known expert in environmental geology, points out that "environmental geology is applied geology, which focuses on all the possible interactions between humans and the natural environment. "The natural environment is for human society, it contains the means of production and subsistence necessary for human survival. The natural environment is divided into benign and malignant, and natural disasters belong to the malignant natural environment system. The geological environment is part of the natural environment. A benign geological environment is suitable for human survival and development, and we have the responsibility to protect it. The vicious geological environment will cause various losses to human life and property. We must study it in order to better prevent and manage these malignant geological environments. Geological hazards in malignant geological environments are the focus of our research. Geological disasters refer to the phenomena and events that cause the loss of the ecological environment, human life and material wealth under the joint action and influence of the earth's internal and external forces (including human factors). For example, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, debris flows, land desertification, soil erosion, land subsidence and subsidence, ground fissures and other geological disasters are all familiar to us. The types of causes of geological disasters can be shown in Figure 15-1.
2. The importance of studying environmental and geological hazards
In 1997, the People's Republic of China stipulated in the Environmental Protection Law that "all enterprises and institutions must submit an environmental impact report when designing, rebuilding or expanding their sites, and the design can only be carried out after being reviewed and approved by the environmental protection department and other relevant departments." "Now, the environmental quality impact assessment of development and construction projects in the mainland has been institutionalized. Among them, the prediction, evaluation and prevention of geological disasters and three wastes (wastewater, waste gas, and solid waste) are the main contents of environmental quality evaluation. Therefore, it is very meaningful and necessary to study environmental and geological hazards.
According to a recent estimate by UNESCO, the cost of natural disasters worldwide exceeds US$60 billion each year, and is growing at a rate of 6% per year. The continent is one of the countries with the most natural disasters in the world. The annual losses caused by the 20th century rose from 29 billion yuan in the 50s of the 20th century to 100 billion yuan in the 90s. Taking geological disasters as an example, the losses caused by them are also staggering, and the annual losses from geological disasters on the mainland amount to 20 billion yuan, and they are also developing at an astonishing speed. This is due to the fact that the occurrence of geological disasters is not only related to natural factors, but also directly related to human activities. In today's world, the population is large and increasing, excessive land reclamation and grazing cause a large amount of soil erosion, land desertification; coupled with the advanced technical means, more and more man-made projects and the increasing scale of the project will transform and affect the natural environment more and more, such as the steepening of the slope will cause landslides, collapses and debris flows, and the excessive exploitation of groundwater and mineral deposits will cause land subsidence, ground fissures and subsidence.
In order to survive and develop, human beings must learn to adapt to the natural environment, choose appropriate production and lifestyle, especially the way not to destroy the natural environment, and protect the natural environment, so as to achieve sustainable development and benefit mankind and future generations. The idea of the unity of man and nature, and the harmonious coexistence of human beings and the environment, has long existed on the mainland, and we modern people should carry it forward even more.
3. The main characteristics of environmental geology
(1) Environmental geology is one of the core issues of sustainable development
The convening of the United Nations Conference on Environmental Protection and Development in 1992 established the agenda for the 21st century and made it clear that maintaining sustainable development is the common goal pursued by mankind. Sustainable development mainly refers to the coordinated and comprehensive development of society, economy, population, resources and environment, and it is a very complex system that involves many factors such as natural resources and ecological environment. Environmental geology plays an important role in achieving sustainable development. The development and protection of traditional energy and mineral deposits is always one of the main tasks of environmental geologists. Environmental geology is becoming increasingly important due to the energy crisis, the need for the discovery of new fossil fuels, the increasing demand for metal deposits and building materials (e.g. stone and sand), the choice of waste disposal and landfill sites, and the need to minimize environmental pollution from these activities.
Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, debris flows, and other areas where geological disasters frequently occur have also attracted increasing attention; in densely populated areas where human engineering activities are concentrated, the work of predicting, avoiding, and preventing geological disasters has also been carried out on a large scale on the mainland, which is also the main content of environmental geological work, and it is closely related to sustainable development. Therefore, environmental geology is one of the core issues of sustainable development.
(2) Environmental geology is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary comprehensive system science
Environmental geology is mainly the application of geological methods to analyze and monitor the impact of the environment on the earth, which inevitably involves a variety of subject knowledge, such as mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, economics, geology, sociology, etc. For example, when carrying out environmental geological analysis and prediction of a certain area, it is generally necessary to investigate, count, map and calculate the relevant geological disasters and geological conditions that have occurred in the area before and now, and on this basis, it is necessary to predict and evaluate the possible changes in environmental geology and the impact on the environment and human beings in the future. RS (remote sensing technology), GIS (geographic information system) and other technologies de-point, collect data and process data. Therefore, environmental geology is a multidisciplinary and comprehensive system science.