Delivering CSIR-NGRI Foundation Day Lecture at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) here, he said, "Earth Science will become increasingly prominent as humanity confronts daunting challenges in finding natural resources to sustain Earth's burgeoning population, in mitigation of natural hazards that impact life and infrastructures, and, more in general, in achieving sustainable environmental stewardship."
Management of natural resources should be accompanied by the forecast and management of natural hazards like earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, floods, sea level rise, eruptions, drought, etc., he said.
He also spoke about gas hydrates, shale gas, carbon sequestration, blue economy of the oceans, which he said should be prioritised for earth science research.
"Energy sector depends on understanding processes and monitoring in the subsurface, including the extraction of coal, oil, gas and shale gas and geothermal fluids, as well as carbon capture and storage and nuclear waste storage," he said.
Saraswat commended the CSIR-NGRI scientists for research on groundwater, energy, minerals and seismic hazards.
"Country needs their (NGRI) efforts much more in identification of scarce minerals, rare earths, uranium and also for faster prediction of all the natural disasters," he said.
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