The Changing Earth Exploring Geology and Evolution / Изменяющаяся Земля. Изучение геологии и эволюции

Earth is a dynamic planet that has changed continuously during its 4.6 billion years of existence. The size, shape, and geographic distribution of the continents and ocean basins have changed through time, as have the atmosphere and biota. As scientists and concerned citizens, we have become increasingly aware of how fragile our planet is and, more importantly, how interdependent all of its various systems and subsystems are.
We have also learned that we cannot continually pollute our environment and that our natural resources are limited and, in most cases, nonrenewable. Furthermore, we are coming to realize how central geology is to our everyday lives. For example, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, generated a tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and the Maldives, and caused billions of dollars in damage. Two hurricanes in 2005, Katrina and Rita, damaged many offshore oil platforms and oil refi neries in Texas and Louisiana, demonstrating how fragile our energy network, from production to the fi nished refi ned product, is and how dependent we are on petroleum to run our economy. For these and other reasons, geology is one of the most important college or university courses that a student can take. <...>