Humanitarian geophysics
Seventy percent of the earth's surface is covered by ocean and approximately 97% of the earth's water is saline. Two percent of the earth's water is contained in ice sheets and glaciers. There remains one percent of the water that is available as a resource that we can consume. More than one billion people do not have access to potable water. Underground water is often safer and more reliable that surface sources. Clean water is essential to the general health of any population. Although geophysicists are often employed in the arena of extraction of energy and materials resources, many geophysicists have dedicated their work to humanitarian causes. Such humanitarian causes include either mapping of clean groundwater, or making sure that groundwater resources available are clean for human consumption. This presentation will summarize some of the most of the recent the geophysical work that has been beneficial to the poor and the underserved in the search for groundwater, in mapping saline/fresh water interfaces, and in determining water quality.
