Lima, N.P., Pereira, D.I. Living and Dying on Planet Earth: an Approach to the Values of Geodiversity. Geoheritage 15, 4 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-022-00776-8
Little or no Earth Science literacy is expressed in ignorance about the close relationships between geodiversity, life, well-being, and death. However, given the environmental changes, the exponential population growth, and the predatory exploitation of natural resources, it is necessary to make society aware of the importance of good management of the set of geosystem services that benefit humanity, as well as the conservation of the natural resources and processes that produce these recourses. How to make society aware of the importance of Earth Sciences, geodiversity, and the services they provide? The ordering of geosystem services, following the ecosystem services model, was an important step towards launching new approaches in the teaching and popularization of geosciences. Earlier, the Big Ideas, developed under the Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI), were also an important milestone to follow in the processes of teaching and popularization. Throughout this paper, topics and examples of renewable and non-renewable geologic resources and geologic processes recognized by all, but rarely understood, are suggested. Natural disasters and topics that relate to human well-being are highlighted. It is also proposed to use together the values of geodiversity identified in the scope of geosystem services and ESLI Big Ideas. Read the full article.