249 Emerging Contaminants: Geochemical Insights and Impacts on Human and Environmental Health

This session addresses advanced detection techniques, ecological impact assessments, and innovative remediation strategies for emerging contaminants focusing on safeguarding geohealth and ensuring sustainable protection of ecosystems and human health.

Wednesday, 22 October 2025
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
HBGCC, 302A

GeoHealth in the Anthropocene: Have we passed the point of no return?

Paper number: 249-15
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 11:35 AM – 11:50 AM

Authors

Abstract

GeoHealth is rapidly emerging as Earth’s diagnostic science, one that assesses the planet’s systemic health, traces the progression of environmental stressors, and evaluates the impacts of human activity on planetary function. As societies face escalating climate extremes, resource depletion, and ecological collapse, the geosciences must shift from passive observation to active intervention. In this context, GeoHealth is not merely an intersection between Earth science and public health; it is a critical framework for understanding whether humanity has exceeded the Earth’s carrying capacity, and whether recovery is scientifically and ethically viable. This perspective contends that GeoHealth must be reimagined as a planetary triage system, capable of recognizing early warning signs of irreversible damage, much like a clinician diagnosing multi-organ failure. The discipline must engage deeply with questions of resilience, irreversibility, and justice, especially in the face of mounting evidence that key planetary boundaries, such as freshwater integrity, biosphere integrity, and climate regulation, are being breached. GeoHealth provides the methodological and conceptual tools to examine how environmental degradation compromises ecosystem services and, in turn, undermines human and planetary survival. To meet this challenge, GeoHealth must transcend siloed scientific approaches and embrace radical interdisciplinarity, open data systems, and ethically grounded community partnerships. This means addressing not only the symptoms of planetary distress but also targeting root causes, unsustainable extraction, structural inequities, and climate inaction. By reframing the role of geoscientists as stewards and healers, not just analysts, GeoHealth calls for a paradigm shift in how we diagnose, intervene, and restore. The discipline ultimately poses a profound question: can we, through science, ethics, and collective action, chart a path back within Earth’s safe operating space? The urgency of this question defines the future of both planetary and human health.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-414118

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