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2015 GSA PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

                          Figure 7. Annual global coal production, 1900–2013 (production data from    Figure 9. Estimated world population and production of flint over time,
                          U.S. Department of Energy and World Coal Association; population data from  illustrating peak flint production (from Price, 2013).
                          U.S. Central Intelligence Agency).

                          Figure 8. Coal seams near Healy, Alaska, USA, 1999. Seams as thick as 3 m are not Figure 10. Rising CO2 in the atmosphere (from National Oceanic & Atmospheric
                          uncommon in better coal fields.                                             Administration, 2015).

GSA TODAY | JANUARY 2016  observed rise in CO2 in the atmosphere (Fig. 10). As estimated              thorium for nuclear power; neodymium, iron, and boron for
                          from the calculation below, the amount of CO2 released from                 high-strength magnets in wind turbines; and terbium and euro-
                          burning of coal in 2013 would have been enough, even with                   pium in highly efficient fluorescent light bulbs. Geoscientists will
                          natural reduction from plant growth, rain, and other processes,             also contribute to safe disposal of waste from energy production,
                          to raise the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere by ~2.9 parts           including evaluating the safety of nuclear waste repositories and
                          per million by volume (ppmv), a bit more than the recent global             injection of CO2 in permeable strata without generating damaging
                          trend of CO2 increasing ~2 ppmv per year.                                   earthquakes.

                                  (7.823 × 1015 g coal burned in 2013) × (~0.8 g C/g coal)              As all geologists know, the world is literally changing. Plate
                               × (3.6642 g CO2/ g C)/(5.15 × 1021 g air in the atmosphere)            tectonics slowly moves the ocean floors and continents. Erosion
                               × (28.97 g air)/(mole air) × (1 mole CO2)/(44.0095 g CO2)              sculpts the landscape. Volcanism modifies climate. What has
                                                                                                      changed, though, in my lifetime, is that we are now measuring
                                × 106 ppmv CO2/(mole CO2/mole air) = ~2.9 ppmv CO2                    many of the changes directly. With the advent of the global posi-
                                            potentially added to the atmosphere                       tioning system (GPS), we are now able to accurately measure how
                                                                                                      the world is changing, with a myriad of applications from basic
                          Geoscientists will have opportunities to contribute to mitigation           science to natural hazards. We are able to directly measure
                          through exploration and development of the mineral resources                tectonic rates of change (Fig. 11), which are increasingly being
                          needed for renewable and carbon-minimal energy production and               used in earthquake-hazard assessment and communication to the
                          more efficient use of electricity. Examples include uranium and             public (Figs. 12 and 13). Such communication is slowly helping to

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