Geology as a science for development

In Spain, we are making the very serious mistake of discrediting geology as an educational subject, but it is not something new, it is something that has been observed in the successive educational reforms that have been imposed by successive parties. Its justification is surely based on the continuous decrease in the number of students in geology and geological engineering degrees, but how are students going to study a career whose content they do not know?

The majority of students finish high school with extremely basic notions of geology, this is not only due to the absence of the subject, but also adds to the low knowledge of science of the majority of teachers, who were not requires knowledge about it.

It is necessary to emphasize to the public the importance of geology not only for the evolution of the way of life, but also how important it is in our day to day life.

• The most used resource in the world is water. Hydrogeology and hydrology are the branches of geology that study the behavior of groundwater and surface water. Without this knowledge, it would be impossible to make a sustainable and quality exploitation of this resource, not only for consumption, but also in many agricultural and industrial fields. In addition, it is essential to know the physics and chemistry of the water, which in turn determines its quality, and which depends largely on the rocks that the water passes through.
• Geology plays a fundamental role in the research and development of mineral deposits. Rocks and minerals are the second most used raw material in the world. Practically everything that surrounds us is extracted in mines or quarries, the concrete and bricks used for buildings are obtained from limestone and clay respectively. Electronic devices carry a huge amount of metals; gold, aluminum, nickel, copper, silicon, silver, ; the vehicles with which we move, solar panels or windmills to obtain energy, In addition, some resources such as wood, could not be worked without tools whose materials also come from a mine. Without mining, life as we know it could not take place.
• According to the UN, natural disasters have caused more than 1.5 million deaths worldwide during the last two decades. Of these phenomena, the ones that have caused the most deaths are earthquakes and tsunamis, which are geological events in which the stress state of rocks suddenly releases an enormous amount of energy. Nowadays it is extremely complicated to predict an earthquake with accuracy, but the role of geology is essential to establish alarm states that warn of such situations; It is also essential to elaborate a correct territorial organization that minimizes personal and material damage.
• Geotechnics and structural geology are fundamental in the construction of large infrastructures. For this reason, carrying out a correct investigation prior to construction is essential to save significant costs in the final design and avoid catastrophes caused by the terrain.
• Geodynamics is another branch that explains the internal and external functioning of the Earth, from this knowledge derives planetary geology, in charge of collecting information from other planets and satellites. Currently the robot Perseverance (for many the greatest milestone in astronomy to date), among many other tasks, takes samples of rocks from the surface of Mars that help explain its geodynamics, and perhaps, to find the remains of life.
• Paleontology is the branch that studies fossils. This allows not only to understand the forms of life that have existed, but also the evolution of living beings and the conditions of the planet.

In addition to all of the above, geology serves as support for a multitude of disciplines such as various degrees of engineering, pharmacy, architecture, biology, geography or astronomy, to give a few examples. For all these reasons, it is essential that this science does not fall into oblivion by politicians and advisers who are in charge of making the study plans.

Geoplanning is a company that over the last 20 years has developed thousands of projects in many of the aforementioned fields, especially in civil and mining works. During all this time it has worked collaborating with important companies providing technical advice and means for obtaining and testing samples. So it supports geology as a science that studies the past, but it is vital to improve and develop the future.