Earth Sciences in our life: Part 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO READERS/CORRECTORS: The text is completely spontaneous, so sorry if there's no much consistency in narration. Nevertheless, I think I was generally literate in this text. But if you'll see any fine errors, feel free to show me at them. :) Thank you in advance! * * * It may seem that knowledge from the Earth Sciences is not very important for everyday life. But I would argue. If not this knowledge, we wouldn't live as we are. First, there is an old claim that the power of climate is the strongest. And in many senses it does so. Climate is not only average weather, but extreme phenomena also. Hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts and heavy-rain-induced floods are what some branches of the Earth Sciences study. Climate scientists try to find a clue between such a major phenomenon as El Nino and deviations in regular seasonal weather patterns in the regions far from the equatorial zone of the Pacific. So, it is really important to know, how climate "works", because we can prepare to any flood or drought early. This is not the only one why Earth Sciences are important to us. Most people in the developed countries live and work in buildings constructed of what's initially been extracted from nature. To say in more precise, from the interior. These are rocks---materials---having different properties. Geochemists can say what rocks can be treated to extract any necessary compound. In addition, don't forget about what drives our mechanisms, keeps us warm in winter and---don't be surprised---makes some cosmetics smell. Oil, gas and coal are also recovered from the Earth's interiors. But how to find where any resource lies, if it's hidden by the thick blanket of other rocks? Geologists find general regularities of how rocks distribute in space; isotope geology helps to determine when any rocks formed; so if we know that layer A can be associated with oil, and layer B often overlies layer A, we can search for layer B and hope to find oil beneath it. Of course it's an oversimplified example, but still giving a clue how geologists can find any necessary resource. See Part 2 to continue reading.