Changing the face of the Earth

Man has, from the very beginning, influenced his environment. This occurred originally on a small scale, but became more outspoken with increasing technology. This development has reached a stage nowadays characterised by the fact that Man is changing the face of the Earth. These large-scale anthropogenic influences may affect the geological development on a regional or even global scale. Engineers taking advantage of geological knowledge did not always take into account that the everlasting natural forces do not obey the will of Man. A change in attitude becomes apparent, however, with closer cooperation between engineering activities and geological modelling, with the objective not to fight nature but to profit maximally from the capabilities of nature to carry out works that are far beyond human power. Projects under progress show that it is possible to take the local geology as a starting point for preserving a much more natural face of the Earth than was realised during the past few centuries.